SAO - A Blacksmith's Story
by MagisterWriter
Summary: Join Kirito and Naxes as they will try to fight against the odd thrown at them to clear Aincrad. This is a story where being a beater really matter,but does it really? A story where side job bring a difference, forging one blade at a time, a blacksmith story. All rights goes to their respective owner.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One : A New Beginning**

*BEEPBEEP BEEPBEEP*

The sound of the alarm clock was soon followed by a groan of a young teenage boy who have a messy black hair poking out underneath his blanket.

After trying to grab the alarm clock with his eyes still closed for a few moments without success he finally relented by trying his best to suffocate the poor alarm clock beneath his pillow. Smirking a bit for that small victory, the boy soon entered the Morpheus realm once again.

*KRINGKRING KRINGKRING*

"For goodness sake! What do I have to do to get some sleep around here!"

Throwing off the blanket of his body, he proceeded to grab his mobile phone from his study desk, unplugging it from the charger he took a look at the caller ID. Rubbing his eyes to clear his eyesight he finally got a good look at the name.

-Kazuto-

'He better have a good reason for calling so early in the morning'

Swiping across the screen he proceeded to put the phone next to his ear while making his way out of his bedroom.

"What do you want you bastard?" he asked/croaked while he opened up his fridge to scour for any edibles.

"Sheesh, what crawled up your ass and died?" the voice from the other side of the phone asked.

"Well you just woke me up from a good dream, so you better have a good reason for calling me so early in the morning"

So far he had found some eggs and a few slices of bacon, and luckily the milk seemed to be fine. Taking a few sniff he set it aside while preparing to cook his breakfast.

"What do you mean by morning its almost 1 o'clock already, and aren't you the one who asked me to call you to make sure you don't miss the opening of the server" the voice berated him.

Looking at the clock on the wall he realized that Kazuto was indeed right, it was already 12:45 pm. It really was not a good idea to sleep that late again. Shrugging his shoulder a bit, he continued to crack the eggs in the bowl and turned on the stove to make an omelet.

"Well would you look at that, you are right for once" he said while beating the egg.

"I am always right and you know it, just do what you need to do and log into the game around 1:30 pm, I'll be waiting at the hunting ground as usual" Kazuto reminded him, and with a click the call was ended.

Putting the phone away he pour down the beaten egg down the pan on one side and after a bit he laid a few pieces of bacon as well on the other side.

While waiting for them to finish he turned on the television and look around for a bit and finally settling for a news channel. There was a small news regarding the new online game Sword Art Online, the same game he and Kazuto are going to play today. The game managed to garner some attention as it was one of the newest game that are able to fully utilize the function of the Nervegear.

Putting a few loaf of bread on the plate he set up on the table, the boy checks on the pan, satisfied he pours down the omelet and the bacon on said loaf. A few finishing touches here and there and it is done.

"Ichiro's simple breakfast for one finished" he announced to no one in particular and sit down to have his meal. Taking a few bites he then noticed a single piece of paper on the table which was weigh down by a small soy sauce bottle.

-I'll be going out early today so I didn't have the chance to make you a breakfast. Feel free to order some takeout for dinner as well as might be coming home a bit later than usual-

-Love, your awesome mom-

Crumpling the piece of paper away he then throws in into the bin with a perfect aim.

'And the crowd goes wildddd'

…..

Meh, he was bored, sue him.

Finishing the breakfast with great gusto, he put the plate in the sink and help himself to a cup of instant coffee. Turning off the television he make his way to the bathroom for a shower.

* * *

After drying his hair down, ruffling his hair around for a bit with no avail as it still seem messy as always. Looking at his reflection he saw what was reflected was a boy still in his teen with an average look, raven black hair, black eyes and a face that you can find almost everywhere with no distinct features.

Content with his average look he slapped his cheeks a few time to prep himself for his adventure with the Nervegear.

Plugging the charger of the Nervegear in, he put the helmet looking thing on his head and make himself comfortable on his bed.

"Naxes Ichiro, 16 years old going on a journey. LINK START!" he said with a small smile tugging on his lips.

That was his quirk if one might say. Some people say that talking to oneself is an early sign of depression or maybe even insanity, he say that it is what make himself unique, what make himself Naxes.

Unfortunately, what he doesn't know at that time was he really was going on a journey, a long long journey.

[WELCOME, PLEASE INSERT YOUR USERNAME AND PASSWORD]

USERNAME : Naxes

PASSWORD : ***********

[USERNAME ACCEPTED, PREVIOUS DATA FROM THE BETA TEST CAN BE IMPORTED]

[DATA IMPORTED]

[PHYSICAL APPEARANCE LOADED] [NO BONUS]

[PLAYER WILL BE PLACED IN -TOWN OF BEGINNING- ]

[eNJoY ThE game]

With a flash of white light Naxes appearance can be seen. A blond haired male with average height with piercing blue eyes, having his hair styled into a ponytail, he was donning the beginner set of clothes a black long sleeved shirt with a contrasting white pants along with a leather armor strapped around his chest.

"Yosh it seems that all is well, my senses are working just fine" he threw around some punches and kicks around to test his artificial body.

Finally looking around he see the other people are looking at him with a weird look. Smiling sheepishly he broke into a run for a shopping spree.

For a starting player of course the system have given him a few basic items, like potions and herbs, but what most player does not know is that for a limited time after logging into the game, a player can get a great discount at any store as a starting bonus.

After bulking up on potions and maintenance items for his swords and armor he take a look at the time and saw that it was already past the promised meeting time with Kazuto. So once again Naxes broke into a run this time towards the beginner hunting field.

Arriving with a screeching halt, he saw two figures going against what it seems to be a boar type of monster.

"Yo" he said to the figure with a black hair framing his face. This is Kazuto avatar in the game which he named Kirito, he said that the name was the combination of KIRIgaya kazuTO thus resulting in KIRITO, he must felt really smart while making that username.

"'Yo' my ass, even with my call you are still late as usual, and you better save me tha black cat explanation or even the old lady excuses" Kirito grumbled while throwing a small projectile towards him.

Ducking under the thrown object with a quite feminine shriek he took notice of the other player with the red hair and give a nod of acknowledgement.

"Oi,Oi be careful with that, well you know me well enough, did you really think that I'll ever arrive on time. Look here a some potions I can give to you for my tardiness, and look because of me being late, you have already make a new friend here" Naxes said while opening a trade window and sending Kirito his peace offering.

Accepting the gift after a simple click in front of him, Kirito decided that it was just Naxes being Naxes and give him a pass this time and proceeded to introduce Klein to Naxes. Kirito and Klein met after Kirito logged in and in need of some guidance Klein followed Kirito and received some training on how to activate sword skills.

"So you guys have been practicing around for around how long again?" Naxes asked while looking at Klein who have just succeeded in activating his sword skill for the first time.

"Around 30 minutes or so, why?" Kirito asked sending Naxes a look, as Naxes began to equip his short sword and twirling it around to test its balance.

Equipping the small steel sword to his right hand and setting a few pebble on his left for throwing movement, Naxes checked his map once again.

"Nothing in particular, just it should be appearing quite soon with the rate you guys are defeating the mobs around here" he replied.

"Oh yeah, the frenzied should be appearing if we defeated a specific amount of mobs in a short amount of time" Kirito realized and so he prepares himself by drinking a flask of potion for good measure.

As if on cue a loud thumping noise can be heard and in the distance a small cloud of dirt can be seen rushing towards their location with a good speed.

"Guys, what is that? Is that suppose to happen? Is it even a good thing?" Klein asked as he unconsciously took a few step back.

"That my friend is what we call the Frenzied, and yes it is suppose to happen, imagine it as a small event of some sort, and another yes because like all frenzied they give out a larger amount of EXP and some good drops sometimes" Naxes answered as he prepares his stance.

"So are we doing it like always or do you want to solo this one on your own?" Kirito asked.

"Like always, beside this would be a great chance for Klein to learn how to work in a Party or at least how to cooperate with other player for a bigger kill" Naxes explained as he look at Klein, as he seems to be a complete beginner it wouldn't hurt to show him some tricks and tips.

Receiving a nod from Klein, Naxes stood beside Kirito and finally the Frenzied arrives in front of them with a cloud of dust. After the dust cleared the they got a good look at the red furred boar, unlike the other boar this one have two health bar.

-Frenzied Wild Boar-

""LETS GO"" both Naxes and Kirito shouted at the same time.

Rushing in first Kirito give a long slash towards the left side of the frenzied, now that it has its focus on Kirito, Naxes prepare his Horizontal sword skill, with a soft glow the steel sword find its way to the frenzied behind, and chained it with a few normal strikes while it give Kirito a chance to gain some distance back.

For the Boar-typed monster the only thing to watch out for is its Charge skill, with a carefully timed strike any skill can be interrupted and broken. So after seeing the boar glowing as if to prepare its Charge, Naxes jumped backwards and start his own Throwing skill, just as it was about to move Naxes pebble was thrown right between the eye of the frenzied, thus the skill was broken and from the frenzied blind spot Kirito appeared with his sword glowing and find its way to the frenzied torso giving it a high damage.

Naxes looked at the Frenzied health bar and it was already in yellow zone, with a loud roar the frenzied charged again.

"Watch out!" Klein shouted from somewhere behind him.

Naxes held his ground until the last moment,he broke into his own charge and slides down the frenzied with his sword pointing up.

A huge gash appeared under the frenzied body,and after both of them comes to a complete halt, the frenzied body glowed a little unstably and finally broke into tiny little fragments signaling its defeat.

Releasing a breath he didn't even realize that he was holding Naxes stood up and look at the EXP and COL he received from the battle. After dismissing the window he look up and saw Kirito holding out a fist towards him.

"Great work as always"

"As always" Naxes held out his fist and tapped it against Kirito while grinning.

"Whoa that was amazing, it seems that both of you know what each other are going to do without even communicating" Klein praised while looking at the two of them.

Looking at each other Naxes and Kirito chuckled as they can't quite refute the statement, since they met in the Beta test they both agreed that they have the best cooperation and became partners from there on out.

So after the defeat of the Frenzied both of them shows Klein a few more tricks and give him tips on how to quick farm and how to make quick cols. After a while Klein separated from the two of them saying that he need to meet up with some of his friends from real life and thanked both of them for their guidance.

"So do you have a lot of time to play today or do you have a set curfew?" Kirito asked as they make their way to the next hunting ground.

While looking for some mob to fight Naxes spotted a wild wolf not far from their position.

"Not really, my mom is going to come back late, so I can spend some good time here" he answered while throwing a pebble towards the wolf and proceeded to engaged it in a battle.

The official opening ceremony will be starting at 3:00 pm, so both of them have some time to kill before the event that will took place at the Town Plaza. So with that in mind they agreed to farm a little bit further while keeping their distance from the town in the back of their mind.

*DINGDING DINGDING*

A chime of bell can be heard from a distance.

"I guess that's the notification for the event, since we are quite far from the town I suggest we start to make a run toward the town now, since I don't want to waste my teleport crystal and I don't want to miss the opening" Kirito suggested as he looked at Naxes who was in a battle with what looked like a Sunflower type of monster.

"Just let me beat this guy up for a bit and we are good to go" and as Naxes just about to activate a Sword Skill to finish the monster up, suddenly both of them are surrounded by a blue light.

"Hey what gives!" Naxes shouted, and as the light dies down, both of them realizes that they have arrived at the Town Plaza.

"A forced transfer? I guess that the opening ceremony is compulsory event" Kirito thought and to as to prove that thought the other players also starts to appear around them. Soon after the plaza was filled with players all who have a confused look on their faces.

After a while, the transfer stopped as both Naxes and Kirito make themselves comfortable by sitting at the edge of the water fountain in the middle of the plaza. Suddenly the sky turned red and a robed figure appeared in the sky floating upon the plaza.

They have seen the actual robe before. It was the clothes that the Game Master during the beta test had always worn. But then the male GMs had had a face like an old sorcerer with a long beard and the females had had an avatar of a bespectacled girl, but this time the space where the face was supposed to be was empty and it gave both of them an unexplainable feeling of anxiety.

The countless players around me must have felt the same.

"Is that a GM?"

"Why doesn't it have a face?"

Numerous whispers like these could be heard.

Then the right hand of the huge robe moved as if to silence them. A pure white glove appeared from the folds of the long sleeve. But this sleeve, like the rest of the robe, wasn't connected to any sort of body.

Then the left arm slowly lifted upwards, too. Then with its two empty gloves spread out in front of ten thousand players, the faceless person opened his mouth—no, it felt like it did. Then a low and calm voice of a male resonated from high up in the air.

[ Players, I welcome you all to my world. ]

"My world? That seems to be quite egoistical don't you think" Naxes state as Kirito give him a nod agreeing.

[ My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world. ]

'Kayaba Akihiko?! That's the name of the game developer if I remember it right'

Kayaba was also a person who Kirito looks up to a lot. Looking at Kirito he seems to be smiling a bit hearing his role model in the technologies department talking eventhough its only in the game.

"Didn't peg him for the type to actually get involved in the game as a Game Master though" Kirito said as he look up to the robed figure.

[ I think that most of you have discovered the fact that the log out button has disappeared from the main menu. This is not a bug, it is all part of Sword Art Online's system. ]

Kirito and I looked at each other and both immediately check if his claim was true.

"Would you look at that, the log out button is gone and I didn't even notice" Naxes says while checking his menu. Kirito seems to have the same problem so we turn our attention back to our lovely/ actually quite scary Game Master Kayaba.

[ Until you get to the top of this castle, you cannot log out of your own free will. ]

'What? How is that even possible' Naxes thought

[ Also, the discontinuation or dismantling of the Nerve Gear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted the signal sensors in your Nerve Gear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions. ]

Naxes and Kirito stared at each other for seconds in shock. Destroy their brains. In other words, kill them. People in the crowd started muttering, but there was no one shouting

or panicking.

[Regretfully 213 players have already exited this game, and the real world forever.]

"213 players already dead? Because of this game? Even as a joke this is not funny anymore" Naxes shouted as his face turn into a scowl.

[ Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies that you have left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and internet media are all repeatedly reporting this situation, including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gear taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have given, all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutes and be given the best treatment. So you can relax and concentrate on beating the game. ]

"Beat the game you say, this isn't a game anymore!" Kirito shouted toward Kayaba figure. Even if somehow Kayaba can hear Kirito voice he took no notice of it and continue his speech

[ Alas, as a final parting gift, I have left something behind for all of you to realize that no this is your reality ]

Naxes opened up his message menu and there it was a message from the Game Master with a clip icon next to it signifying that an item is attaché along with the message.

'A mirror?'

Both of them seems to have the same thought as they held the rectangular handheld mirror in front of them. With a shattering sound Naxes was surrounded with a bright light.

When the light dies down Naxes looked around and wonder if he was forced teleported again.

"Who are you?" Naxes heard someone asked him, but tilted his head for a second as that voice sounds quite familiar. As if finally a gear clicked,

"Kirito is that you?" he asked the figure in front of him.

"Yeah it's me. Wait, that voice are you Naxes?" Kirito asked him back.

Being quite confused with the situation Naxes take a look in the handheld mirror, and what he saw confuses him even more.

"It's me, of course it is me, I mean my face is here!" Naxes shouted out to himself.

Coming to a conclusion that somehow Kayaba managed to bring our real face into the game, the mirror finally shattered, and they both turn their attention back to Kayaba.

[ With that, I have finished the official tutorial for Sword Art Online. ]

[ Players, I wish you luck. ]

 **With that I end Chapter One, half of it is just the same as canon as there was not much to change, maybe insert a few joke here and there, but really wasn't up for it. So that is that, hopefully I can come up with some interesting originals for the upcoming chapters.**

 **See ya.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – The first quest**

Naxes Ichiro is a simple person, if you tell him to go straight he will charge ahead full speed, no worries, so if you ask him to find something in a goddamn forest, you better give him an accurate direction.

So here tonight we found our two protagonist walking around in the dark forest with no idea where to go.

"If you want to go to the star, if you want to go to the star," Naxes sang as he made his way to nowhere in particular as he have no idea where he is going or where he even is at right now.

"Can you just stop singing that song for a while, you have been singing it for the past hour" Kirito groaned as he tries to make head or tails in their journey.

With fake anime tears running down his face Naxes replies,

"They are too catchy I can't get it out of my head, curse those little children!"

Naxes and Kirito are actually on their first quest right now, unfortunately only after they officially accepted the quest they realized that they don't have enough information.

Flashback

After the announcement by Kayaba Akihiko was done, Naxes and Kirito quickly made their way out of the Town Plaza, where some of the other player was still panicking and confused.

They made their way through some alleys just to make sure there is no unwanted tag-alongs following them. Given the situation they know how valuable time is, as the resources such as EXP and COL are limited they need to utilize it as much as possible to grow stronger with the end goal of surviving this death game.

"So what do you think is the best course of action right now?" Naxes asked Kirito after making sure that the coast is clear of any eavesdropper.

"If I remember correctly there should be a quest that gives out an equipment that last for a few floor in the next village from here" Kirito suggested as he tries to recall any other tips from his beta testing days.

"That should be good enough for now, and I believe it is better that we don't make a party yet, since we both can take good care of ourselves we should be able to farm faster along the way" Naxes replied.

The party system in SAO leans rather heavily Last Attack system, because of this the player that performs the last hit towards any monster will receive higher EXP,COL and loot drop rate. So in their case it will be bad if somehow their growth rate become unbalanced so they agree to become a solo player for a short while.

Reaching an agreement both of them took off to the next village running with Kirito leading the way.

-Yallam Village-

It was almost sundown when they almost reached the village, looking around it seems that no player have reached this point yet, all there is some kid playing around the trees while the elderly are looking over them.

The NPCs are rather well made since they look like any normal human villagers, socializing around and playing around each other.

"We should talk to as many NPCs as possible and if there is any good quest around" Kirito said and after receiving a nod from Naxes he start to make some conversation with the villagers.

While looking for some information, Naxes keep hearing some nursery rhyme being repeated by the children playing around the trees and rocks.

[If you want to go to the sun, if you want to go to the sun, face south from the moon, and run straight through two trees, then circle around twice.]

'Keep looking for information Naxes, those songs are not catchy, not catchy at all' Naxes thought to himself as he tries to keep his focus on the informations.

"Don't mind the children much, they were taught by an old lumberjack that was passing through the village a few weeks ago" an old man said.

The old man sat on what looked like a tree stump, walking over Naxes started a conversation in hope of any good information or even a quest.

"Unfortunately there is not much to do around here, as you can see the only one left here is the old cronies and the little children, however if you are interested you can help me look over these children while they play" the old man suggested.

"Thanks but no thanks old man, I'm not that good with children anyway, but thanks for offering" Naxes politely declined the request.

Finally after almost scouring the whole village Kirito called him over as he seems to have found an interesting quest. The quest giver is an old lady who is searching for some rare herb that can only be found in the north forest to cure his grandchild for his high fever

"Please Adventurers, bring me the cure for my grandchild and I'll even give you my family heirloom as your reward" the old lady pleaded desperately.

"Well, what do you think? A family heirloom as a reward that sure is tempting." Kirito looked over Naxes to see if he agrees.

"I don't care anymore, just accept the quest and be done with it, I can't take anymore of the children singing, and there is just something about children nursery rhymes that scares me." Naxes shivered as he remembers some of the horror movies he watched recently. Naxes and Horror doesn't go well at all.

[QUEST ACCEPTED]

"So where again in the North Forest we can find this herb that you seek?" Naxes asked the old lady for the directions

"You can find the herb in the North Forest" the old lady stated.

Naxes and Kirito looked at each other and this time Kirito tried to ask the same question again.

"You can find the herb in the North Forest" the old lady stated again, this time monotonously.

"Ah crap, sometimes I forgot they are just NPCs, now we don't have any direction and if I remember correctly the North Forest is damn large" Naxes grumbled.

A proverbial light bulb appears on top of Kirito head.

"Oi just how did you make that light bulb appear like that" Naxes asked Kirito who seems to be going through his menu screen.

"Don't ignore me dammit" he said while he waited for Kirito who is checking through something.

"Welp double crap, I thought that there might be some info in the quest log, but look at what I found. A time limit." Kirito stated as he closes his menu screen.

"Whoopdeedoo lucky us, can this quest get any worse?" Naxes said while both of the make their way to the North Forest entrance.

Flashback ends

"Apparently it can get worse, as you keep singing that stupid song for the whole trip" Kirito groaned as he tries his best to bore a hole at the back of Naxes head with his stare.

Naxes who seems oblivious to the stares keep on walking, while humming the same tune as he looked out for any monster sightings.

As they keep walking they realized that they may have been walking around in circle, because a few time already they have passed the large rock, while their body might not actually be feeling tired as they are virtual, mentally they are exhausted.

With that they take a break beside the large stupid stone as Naxes describes it in their few passing.

Kirito was sorting his loots while keeping tab on the time limit, they are already halfway the time limit with no progress whatsoever. As for Naxes he was leaning his back on the rock while he gazes to the moon. It was not very comfortable but it was good enough for a small break.

The moonlight was shining through the canopy leaves of the forest, lighting up the floor of the forest, they was lucky that tonight was a full moon as they don't exactly have any torches. Thanks to the moonlight they doesn't have to worry about tripping on any roots.

'Virtual might it be, but seriously it's so beautiful in here can't really believe that we are in a game'

His thought was then interrupted by Kirito who think that they should start moving again if they want to finish this quest, as they cannot afford to be penalized if they fail the quest.

Standing up with Kirito help, he pat himself down and at that moment he noticed something, or rather some detail on the large stone. Tilting his head a few times he tries to make out the shape on the rock.

"A moon" Naxes whispered to himself.

"What was that?" Kirirto asked as he barely hear what Naxes had said.

So as Naxes repeated his finding to Kirito, Kirito looked at the rock closely and agrees it was shape like a crescent moon, but there is something tugging at the back of his mind.

"I swear, earlier when we pass this rock I saw a sun shape" Kirito said as he remembered their past encounter with the large rock, but he thought that it was just maybe some of the design of the game and never dwell much on it.

"The moon and the sun, so those rock might not be the same at all are we actually making progress here?" Kirito mused as he look for any solution, and at that moment…..

"If you want to go to the sun, if you want to go to the sun," Naxes decided to sing his song again.

"Goddamit Naxes stop singing that song!" Kirito pleaded as he had enough of the song already.

"No wait a second, this song might be our ticket out of here, there are three different part to the song about the moon, the sun and the star, and so far we have already found two rocks with a sun and a moon symbol, this cannot just be a lucky coincidence cant it?" Naxes turned to look at Kirito who have a rather large grin on his face.

"You. Are. A. Genius. Now repeat that song and lead us towards the next stone" Kirito praises as he patted Naxes's back. With a deadpanned look Naxes turned to Kirito and says,

"I can't remember the song anymore." He says as Kirito facepalmed himself.

"Just kidding, it is stuck in my head and should be there for a few more days, come on now Kirito sing with me" Naxes says as he dragged Kirito while singing the song.

So from there they make their way to the sun rock, and from the sun rock they uses the star song to find their way. As the star song seem to be the last of the trilogy, they came to a conclusion that the herb should be located somewhere around the star stone.

Checking the quest log again, they realized that they don't have much time anymore, so as they fasten their pace and finally reached the destination, the star stone. Never in their life have they been so happy looking at a stone.

"We are cutting it close here, so let's just look for the herb and make our way back as soon as possible." Kirito stated and start to look around the bushes surrounding the plains.

Naxes split up from Kirito and make his way towards the riverside as the herb might be somewhere there. That is when he realizes that they are not alone there. Slowly making his way back to Kirito, he tapped Kirito shoulder a few time to get his attention.

"Oi Kirito, we got company here, and it does not look good." Naxes slowly says.

By the riverside stood a large white wolf, even from the distance they can see that the size of that majestic beast is quite large. It white fur shines almost silver in the moonlight, it was quite a sight. Luckily, at the moment have not notice their presence yet, and as they believe that they can't quite match that beast right now, they decide to retreat and make their search away from the beast.

The Fates however have a different idea.

*CRACK*

At that moment Kirito decided, that it was the best moment to make a large sound by stepping on a branch.

"Oooppss" Kirito says while rubbing his head sheepishly.

The white wolf turns toward where the sound came from, which if you have not realized is where we are currently located trying to make our unsuccessful silent escape.

So with that the 2 Health Bar appeared above the wolf head. A mini boss.

-Hokuto the Silver-

"Kirito, I'll aim for the legs to slow its movement, while you try to see if it have any weak spot!" Naxes commanded while making a stance, equipping his steel sword on his right arm and his trusty pebbles on his left. He waited for the wolf to make its move first as it is wiser to prepare for a strike from the stronger opponent rather than charging in blindly.

""LETS DO THIS"" both of them shouted as Kirito took some distance from the wolf and find a chance to strike its blindspot. Naxes however was slightly shaking as he need to be careful while playing a tank, well someone have to and remembering how if they die here they will die in the real world as well, the thought is not helping.

"ROARRR!" with that the wolf lunged, and as Naxes was frozen where he stands he was being an easy target for the wolf to swipe his claw at him.

"MOVE DAMMIT" Kirito shouted from where he stands, and with that Naxes was woken from his stupor and rolled away from the wolf swipe, but what he does not realize is the follow up attack by its tail. When the strikes hit him he was thrown away until he crash unto a tree, looking upwards he sees that half of his health bar is already gone and approaching the yellow zone.

Taking out two flask of potion, he chugged one down and smashed one down at his feet. In Sword Art Online, potions doesn't immediately recover one specific amount of health, it actually just increases the player regenerative rate to a higher level. While drinking is the most effective way to use a potion,it took too much time, while smashing the flask have an immediate effect but at slower rate.

As he finish drinking his potion he make his way towards way Kirito who is battling the wolf, he activated his Horizontal sword skill and swiped down one of the wolf hind's leg.

'Heh, that got its attention real fast'

So far it seems that Kirito haven't make much damage to the wolf, so as the highest damage dealer so far the Hate is transferred to me.

"Stick to the original plan Kirito! It seems that the wolf wants to play with me, so let's PLAY!" Naxes shouted as he parried the wolf claw strike.

-STUNNED-

"Aim for the leg, but watch out for the tail" and with that both of us swiped the leg of the wolf, and as the result the wolf seems rooted where it stands. It is one of the most basic strategies against a beast type monster, while the condition won't last long, at least Kirito would have a chance to ingest a few potions down.

"So any other idea on how to take this thing down?" Kirito asked while we repeated the same maneuver over and over.

Seeing how the health bar moving down to the second bar Naxes just shrugged his shoulder.

"Why change something that works, I call this operation Beat it until it is Beaten" Naxes answered while parrying another strike.

"Switch!"

"You really got no naming sense don't you" Kirito sweated dropped as he switches position with Naxes

Finally after a long while, Hokuto exploded into tiny fragments of crystals, and the word [Congratulation] appeared where the silver wolf once stood.

Falling on both of their own respective asses, the duo chuckled and soon it turn into a full blown laugh.

"Take that you giant piece of mutt" Naxes shouted in no one in particular

"And take that Kayaba, it won't be easy to put us down" joined Kirito as they both continued to was nothing particularly funny about the situation, the laugh act more as a release of their relief.

As the laughter died down, both them are lying on the ground while looking at the moon. It was so comfortable that Naxes was just about to fall asleep, when he was surprised by a shriek coming from Kirito.

"Crap! The time limit is almost up and we haven't found the herb yet." Kirito reminded as he begin to look around to search for it. It was then Naxes finally look to his reward screen and found the item which might be the herb that they are looking for.

-Silverleaf Herb-

After mentioning the item to Kirito, once again they find themselves breaking into a run, this time towards Yallam Village.

When they reached the old lady house, there was only 5 minutes left on the time limit. Barely safe, this kind of this is really not good for the heart. So when Naxes presented the –Silverleaf Herb- to the old lady rewarded him with a short sword, the hilt was white and while its length is longer than a normal dagger it is also too short to be called a one handed sword.

"This is the only thing I have to reward you with, you have my utmost gratitude for helping me and my grandchild, may both of you be blessed along your journey"

Status : BLESSED [ INCREASE OF EXP,COL AND DROP RATE FOR ONE WEEK (7) ]

As it was already late into the night the old lady offered them to stay the night in her house, having no reason to decline, both Naxes and Kirito make their way inside and prepare for to sleep, they agree to wake up early and move out first thing in the morning.

With their long day finally comic to an end, both of them slipped into the Morpheus realm.

* * *

After having a small breakfast courtesy of the house host, they thanked the old lady and make their way to the next village.

"It's a shame really there is only one equipment as the reward, so what do you suggest? Should we sell it and divide the profit equally?" Naxes asked while twirling the sword in his right hand.

"I don't really like using a sword of that length, I'm already used to the one handed sword style that I use in the Beta test" Kirito mused as he try to remember the location of the one handed sword Anneal Sword.

"I think I'll keep it, since I was a dagger user back in the beta, this one might just suit me and the extra length is just a bonus. I promise you that I'll help you find your sword after this" Naxes said while he replaces the beginner steel sword with his new short sword, only then he notices the name of the short sword.

Silver's Fang

So with that, they move out and heads toward a nearby village -Horunka Village- , a village that was known for one of their quest [ Secret Medicine of the Forest ] which should be the one that gives out the sword that Kirito really want.

At that point they have no idea what was waiting for them there, they will for the first time experience the ugliness of a human heart, and see how selfish a person can be when they are pushed into a corner.

 **Done with Chapter 2, so far writing seems to be fun, and luckily I got some great early reviewer, really helped me a lot, and motivates me to write down this second chapter as soon as possible. With this sort of original chapter of mine, I hope you can enjoy them.**

 **See ya.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Welcome to Urbus**

"Asuna, this battle will be similar to the Sentinel's! Switch!" Kirito shouted towards a girl with a glossy chestnut coloured hair.

"Understood" a reply can be heard coming from Asuna, who was holding a thin Rapier. Then the girl switched place with Kirito, the Rapier that she is holding glow a bright green signalling a start of a skill. Then came the flashes of light of the three hit skill Triangular.

As the Kobold King is still in its Stunned state, Naxes took the chance to prepare his own Dagger skill Side Bite, if the skill goes well there is a high chance of the enemy getting Bind. After launching the two hit strike skill, Naxes was in a post skill state where he can't move, Kobold King saw the chance and prepare his overhead strike. Preparing for the hit Naxes clench his teeth and wait for the incoming blow, but it never did.

Kirito saw that Naxes was about to be hit by Illfang the Kobold King, who in Rage mode as its health bar is already in the red, quickly use Dash to intercept the strike. Kirito was blown away by the strike, but luckily Illfang's blade was deflected and missed Naxes by a breadth.

Rushing to Kirito side Asuna produced a potion flask from her inventory and give it to Kirito who quickly gulped it down. Naxes who was currently holding out on his own against Illfang while the other player took care of the Sentinels and some are striking Illfang's back within a safe distance.

"Asuna, switch with me, I think I got a plan to finish this fatass off" Naxes shouted from his position while he parried a strike from Illfang with the buckler on his left arm.

Naxes smashed a flask of potion at his feet and stood by Kirito side.

"Kirito do you believe me?" Naxes asked Kirito with a serious face, getting a nod from his dark haired friend, he started his skill and Naxes upper body and arm start to give out a soft glow.

"Good, so just trust me and Asuna and just activate your strongest one handed sword skill once I give the signal" receiving another nod Naxes grinned, it was the kind of grin that Kirito really hates. It was either going to be a great idea or a very stupid idea.

"Maybe I should just take a moment to think about itttttttttt!" Kirito screamed as he was lifted by the feet and Naxes activated his skill.

"Oooorrryyyyyyaaaaaaa, THROW!" Naxes spun Kirito for a few round and threw him towards Illfang just like an athlete in the throwing sport.

"NAXES YOU DUMBASS! VORPAL STRIKEE" Kirito activated his strongest skill that he have in his arsenal right now, a three hit skill with an area of effect damage as well.

Illfang which was still trying to hit Asuna who is quite nimble in dodging never knew what hit him as the strike from Kirito made it burst into a shower of shining fragments.

[CONGRATULATIONS]

As the word of congratulations appeared the player who is in the boss room, bursted into shouts and cheers. After a month they have finally beaten the first floor boss, and now they are one step closer in reaching their dream to clear Aincrad and beat the death game.

In this one month, a lot of death had happened. 2000 players bursted into light particles, and almost immediately an electric wave was send to their brain in the real world, killing them forever.

'One month, 2000 players dead, and we have only cleared the first floor, this is worst than I have expected'

As Naxes was silently thinking, a rather large, bald man with brown skin appeared beside him and give him a 'pat' at his back. The said pat almost sent Naxes sprawling on the floor as there was probably too much force being put in it, and it definitely does not mean that Naxes was weak.

"Good job kid, never thought that I will saw someone being thrown like that in my entire life" the bald guy praises him. Kirito who had made his way towards him also received the same treatment and a praise for his last attack. The man introduces himself as Agil who acted as a tank for us in the battle earlier.

Just as the mood was getting brighter and the players are getting ready to activate the portal to the second floor, a voice shouted out.

"WHY DID YOU LET DIABEL DIE?!" the voice came from an orange haired man, the same man who voices out his opinion that the beta tester are responsible for the death of the 2000 player in this month.

'Not this guy again' Naxes and Kirito sighed as they probably have the same thought regarding the man.

"You knew the skills the boss used, didn't you! If you gave us that information from the start, Diabel wouldn't have died!" he shouted while pointing towards Kirito, earlier Kirito have noticed the strange weapon that Illfang carried just it was about to enter it's Rage mode and give Diabel a warning.

"Are you an idiot or something?" Naxes asked, already fed up with this guy and his behaviour.

"Kirito give the warning fairly early but Diabel still rushed towards Illfang, he was trying to get the Last Attack bonus, that is why he went in alone instead of all of us rushing it at the end" Naxes tries to explain knowing it will just futile in the end, but knowing that his friend was going to be slandered by this orange idiot, it just does not sit right with him.

Kirito looked towards Naxes and give him a thankful nod.

"Those guy, they are beta tester! That is why, the boss' attack patterns, good hunting spots and quests, they knows all of them! They hid them despite knowing about them!" another guy from the orange idiot group stated though quite loudly while pointing at both Kirito and Naxes.

'This is getting worst by the second' Kirito thought to himself when suddenly an idea occurred to him.

*PFFFTT*

A chuckle can be heard from inside the room, and those chuckles soon turned into a full blown laughter. It was Kirito, with his hair shadowing his face, no one could tell what does his facial expression look like at the moment. Finally looking up, a cocky smirk can be seen on his face.

'Oi Oi Kirito did you finally snapped or something, or is this the after effect from the throw earlier'

"Beta tester, was it? ...Don't lump me together with those amateurs." Kirito stated while looking at the shocked face of the other player in the room bar Naxes.

"Listen here and remember this. Sword Art Online Beta Test had a ridiculously low pass rate for the lottery draw. Out of the one thousand people, how many real gamers do you think got selected? Most of them were just some new player who just want to jump in the bandwagon just for excitement, the players who doesn't even know how to play properly. You guys here are much better than that lot." Kirito continues.

"During the beta test, I reached floors that no one else could reach. I learned of the Katana Skills the boss used since I kept fighting mobs that used katanas from a floor way higher. I know way more other things too, there is only one other person who managed to catch up with me, so of course Argo wouldn't know about it."

"Who? Who is it?. So there is another person who is just as bad as you are" the man from earlier asked

"I shall take that as a compliment, that just mean I am just as badass as Kirito over here" Naxes answered while stepping up standing right beside Kirito.

"That's...both of you are no longer on the level of a beta tester... that's totally cheating, you are just a cheater!"

From around us, yeah, cheater, cheating beta tester, many voices with those words came out. Those words were soon mixed up together, in the end a strange sounding word, [Beater], reached Kirito's ears.

"Ahh…. [Beater] that have a nice ring to it won't you agree with me Naxes" Kirito asked while grinning.

Having the same grin plastered on his face Naxes agrees with him and said ;

"Exactly, we are the [Beater]s. From now on, please do not lump me together with those other beta tester."

With that being said, Kirito opened up his equipment window to put on his Coat of Midnight, having the same idea Naxes quickly went through his inventory list and found what he was looking for and equipped the Paladin Blazer which was tailored from the fur of Hokuto the Silver, that he defeated early in the game.

As right now Kirito is sporting a slick all black look with the Coat of Midnight which reached almost to the hem of his knees, and putting his Anneal Sword at his back.

While Naxes putting on an almost all white look bar for his black long sleeved turtleneck, the Paladin Blazer was quite short in contrast to the Coat of Midnight, it only reached his belt.

Both of them turned their back from the crowd of players, just as they are about to exit the room and activate the second floor's transfer gate, a voice called out to them.

"Kirito, Naxes before you go, I was wondering how did you guys know my name" Asuna asked.

Kirito and Naxes looked at each other tilting their head a bit, and then the proverbial light bulb went on just above Naxes's head.

"Oh yeah, when the three of us met Kirito and I introduced ourselves but Asuna never did actually introduced her name, so you must be quite surprised when Kirito yelled out your name earlier in the battle" Naxes deduced and received a confirming nod from Asuna.

"Ah... co- could it be... this is the first time you've formed a party with someone?" Kirito asked and received another nod from her.

"Around here, you can see an additional HP gauge other than your own, right? Underneath it, isn't something written there?" Kirito stated while pointing to the upper left part of Asuna's field of vision.

Asuna's hazel eyes moved about clumsily, and saw a string of words, and finally her eyes widen in surprise.

"Mou, really. This whole time, it was written there" she said before giggling with a slight tint of pink dusting her cheeks.

'Damn she is cute' both Kirito and Naxes thought at the same time.

"Actually I might need another favour, would you mind if I tag along with you guys for the second floor?" Asuna asked as she thought it would be great if they can give her some pointers on how to actually play the game.

Naxes just shrugged his shoulder and leave the decision to Kirito.

"I don't see why not, the more the merrier they say"

* * *

Urbus (Second Floor)

Three blue spheres can be seen appearing near what seems to be some kind of slab of stone with some writings on it, and from those sphere figures walked out.

Naxes stretched his back to clear out any kinks if there is even any, while taking a deep breath. Seeing the blue sky stretching above the horizon after spending a few hours in a dark gloomy boss room can have a healing after all, not to mention their incident with the other players left a bad taste in his mouth.

Urbus town was actually quite small but packed with buildings, the town was surrounded by a lush green forest with a few mountain surrounding it.

"Second floor, here we are finally, took us long enough" Naxes stretch his arm towards the sky while Kirito and Asuna are still looking around. Just as Naxes was about to start running off to explore the town, Kirito spoke up.

"We should go to the equipment shop first to sell off any material that we got in the previous floor, we should be able to make some COL from them and at the same time we can take a look at the equipment they sell and see if there is anything that we can replace to improve our stats"

"So should we split up to find the store or would it better if we just go together?" Asuna asked after nodding, and just before Kirito could answer, Naxes already took off to god knows where.

"I was going to suggest going together, but seeing he had already took off like that maybe we should just split off?" Kirito said as he was thinking of how to contact Naxes later.

"Nah, I got a few question I want to ask anyway, so if you don't mind we could walk and talk while we search for the shop" Asuna suggested, splitting off will defeat her purpose off joining the two anyway.

"Sure, let's go then" Kirito answers as both of them made their way to the east part of the town.

* * *

After hearing the word split off, Naxes ran toward the west side of the town barely containing his excitement. Sure he had his dose of Aincrad while playing the beta test, but back in those days he never really took the time to sniff the flower as the saying goes. All he thought about was levelling up and finding new grinding spot, but now trapped in a death game he found himself fascinated with the environment.

Looking around the town, it seem quite empty as they were the earlier group that pass through the teleport stone, he found himself walking around was seem to be the housing district. Well he never actually thought about where he was heading. After passing a few cafes and food stalls run by NPCs he finally reached a plaza where there is a small gazebo, with a few chairs surrounding it. Sitting on one of the chair he lean backward while looking toward the sky and only then he realized something.

'Ah, how should I find Kirito after this?'

Shrugging it off a few seconds later while watching a few clouds pass by, he felt his eyelids getting heavier. Just as he was about to doze off he was surprised by a face appearing in his field of vision. Brown eyes met black, he blinked a few times to clear his vision. Almost letting out an unfeminine shriek, Naxes stood up then turned around to his back and took a look at the person standing there.

"Hello there mister." the figure greeted him. Now that he took a good look at the person before him he saw the green indicator just above him/her head. The person short figure was concealed in a brown almost tattered cloak, the only part that was visible was his/her face and on the face two what seem to be whiskers can be seen adorning it.

"Yo." Naxes greeted back quite weakly while still analyzing the person.

"The name is Argo, seeing that you are already here, you must be from the group that went to clear the boss room earlier right" now that Naxes hear the figure spoke he realize that the person should be a female from the voice, as he mused he realized that she must be expecting some sort of reply from him so he spoke up.

"Yeah, my friend and I just activated the floor portal and then we split up to look for the equipment store"

Well that was the half truth, they didn't exactly split off, but there is no need to tell her that.

"Ah, you seem to be lucky today, I'm some sort of an information dealer, a broker if you need, I can give you the information with you need with the right price, and since you are using my service for the first time I don't mind giving you the information for free this time" Argo spoke in her what sounds like saleswoman tone, and after making a few gesture with her hand at the empty screen in front of her, a small screen pop out in front of him.

-Urbus Town Map-

Naxes was quite suspicious at the Argo at the time being, while his mind was thinking where he heard about the name from before, but after loading the Map in his own it seems fine and legit.

"Thank you. You sure have helped me out, my name is Naxes and I'll be sure to use your services after this" Naxes said while bowing slightly. Now he can make his way faster and maybe find Kirito and Asuna somewhere along the way.

Waving it off with her right hand, with a catlike grin she then spoke up again.

"Don't worry about it, just spread the words to your friend and maybe I might have some other interesting information if you want to hear about later"

Maybe that wouldn't be so bad after all, slightly bowing once again, Naxes turned around and make his way while referring to the map that he just obtained where he had already marked the store which seem to be at the other end of the town.

After making a few turns here and there and almost smashing his face into a shop wall, he then find himself standing in front of the door of the shop where a drawing of a shield and two sword can be seen of a wooden slab just above the door.

Pushing the door, he was surrounded by a few variety of weapons and armour that are being hung up the wall, and some smaller equipment that are being displayed in a glass shelf , he then noticed that Kirito and Asuna have already arrived and are currently talking to the shop clerk.

"Tch, and here I thought I was going to arrive first"

Hearing that familiar voice, Kirito turned his attention towards the door. Seeing the figure of a panting Naxes, a teasing smirk made the way on his face.

"Well who was it that decided to play rocket and shot off to who know where without even waiting for the decision" Kirito said. Naxes just ignore the comment and make his way to both of them after regaining his breath.

"With my sense of direction, I was bound to get lost sooner or later, but I did get something good about it. So is there anything good being sold here?" Naxes asked while he greeted Asuna who finally notice his arrival.

So far Kirito and Asuna had managed to sell of their loot and was starting to look around for their respective type of weapon. Naxes who have already set aside the loot he want to sell started a conversation with the clerk and trying to bargain for a higher price. At time right this he really felt the importance of Bargaining skill take he choose to forsake for a more battle oriented skill and leaving one slot empty just in case of any interesting skill popping up later.

Finally reaching an agreement point he then took out his dagger Silver's Fang and asked for an Appraisal from the store clerk. The clerk then activated his skill while looking about the white dagger. After a few second, he opened his mouth to explain.

"Hmmm, overall it is a good weapon, and I can tell you right away that this should be able to last you a few more levels before you need to replace it if it went down a few enhancement. That's the good news, however since that this is also seem what to be a unique blade, I wouldn't recommend it for a starting weapon, if you get too used to its length of reach you will get a weird feeling when changing back to a normal dagger. However I can offer you a sum of COL if you are interested in trading in for the other dagger" he finished as he put down the dagger back on the top of the desk.

After thinking for a few second Naxes decided to keep the dagger and stored in his inventory. It was really a shame since he really liked the length as it gives it an edge compared to the normal dagger.

Making his way back to see what Kirito and Asuna are up to, he saw that Kirito had a quite disappointed look while Asuna had a few Ring in her hand and are currently looking at the selection of armour.

"It seems that there is not much variety offered here, and the equipment that we have right now is still better than what is being sold" Kirito stated.

Looking at both of their equipment, Naxes agreed with Kirito. The body armours that they have are both gained from a mid boss and a floor boss drop so they shouldn't have to worry about that for a while. Waiting for Asuna to finish up her purchase Naxes decided to tease Kirito for a payback for his comment earlier.

"So you and Asuna, did you guys make any progress while I leave you guys alone earlier? There is bound to be some progress right?"

Giving him a dry look Kirito then turned to face Naxes.

"Hah, leaving us alone you say, more like getting lost by yourself, but we did have a nice chat and from the look of it, she is learning about the system quite fast, no doubt she will be a strong player in the future" he stated, while Naxes just nodded while looking up at Asuna who have finished up her transaction, looking content with her purchases.

"Oh yeah, you said that you found out about something good earlier, what was that about?" Kirito asked as he remembers Naxes statement from earlier. So Naxes went and explained his meeting to both Kirito and Asuna while they make their way out of the shop.

After finishing up his story about Argo, Kirito had an elated look on his face and started to ask about more detail about this person. After Naxes had described that the person had a whiskers mark on her face, Kirito was sure that they have found their next objective.

* * *

Naxes guided the two of them to the plaza where he met with Argo earlier, this time without getting lost or running into any wall (thank you very much) the sky have already darkens and a red hue can be seen staining the edge of the horizon. More players can be seen already walking around and filling the plaza.

After looking around the plaza for a bit, Naxes nudged Kirito shoulder for a bit while pointing at Argo's direction, who was standing around near the gazebo. Luckily Naxes retracted his hand fast enough before Asuna could give a chop to his hand. Who then quickly apologized, saying that it was an act of reflex as she said that it was a bad gesture to point out to a person. Naxes who doesn't really mind and actually found out it kind of a cute quirk of her.

The three of them then make their way to Argo with Kirito leading them. Kirito had explained earlier that Argo was actually an acquaintance of his in the beta test day. Argo is a character that Kirito had traded information in the past with and he thought that it was a good idea to check if Argo had any good quest or tips for this particular floor. While Naxes was quite surprised with the idea that someone other than him can actually be on good term with his slightly emo friend agrees with the idea and lead them to the meeting place. Which bring us to the meeting right now.

"Oi Argo, is business any good at the moment" Kirito greeted when he was near enough Argo for her to hear him. Argo who immediately recognizes him had a surprised look on her face, even so when she saw Naxes who was walking just behind him.

"Kirito, didn't expect to see you so early on and who would have thought that the friend that the average looking boy from earlier was actually you. So do you need any information or is this a social visit?" Argo said nonchalantly as she didn't even notice the tick mark that appeared of Naxes head.

While Naxes is fully aware of his average look, it is never fun to hear someone pointed it out at you. He then tried his best to calm himself and almost succeeded if not for the soft chuckling sound that can be heard from his right side, as he turned he was met with the sight of Asuna who was trying to stifle her laugh with a hand on her mouth.

Sighing, Naxes then turned back his attention to Argo and Kirito who was catching up with recent event. So after Kirito explained that he is in dire need of some extra spicy information that are not listed in the guidebook and what seems to be a transfer of COL from Kirito to Argo, she then spoke up.

"So far there haven't been any special quest that I have heard about, but there is some juicy info that some might have not realized and I think this one should suit you just fine. When you exit Urbus town, you should make your way up the mountain that you can actually see from here, make your way up there and it was rumoured that there is a NPC that can teach you some [Martial Art] skills" as she was explaining, Kirito was contemplating whether he should spend some time there. Indeed as Argo had said he thought that some more battle skill would be good for him.

While he was thinking about his next move, Naxes move towards Argo while he took out his dagger. Seeing that this is a good chance as any, he might as well ask if she had any information on this type of dagger.

"Ah Mr. Average from earlier, so you need information about your weapon type huh? While I don't really know much about this particular weapon, I might just have the perfect advice for you, but first fork over some COL." She said as she put out her hand left towards Naxes.

'My COLs, my sweet sweet COLs' Naxes thought as he open up his trade window and send over the amount of COL that Argo had asked for.

"It is good doing business with you. While I had advised Kirito to go and get his [Martial Art] skill, I think it would be better for you to head to the Blacksmith Guild. For your kind of problem, as this type of weapon is unique and it will be quite hard to find its replacement with the same specification. Its either you make a custom order on later floor, or you can start to learn blacksmithing yourself and make the blade to your own liking later on. Since we are still in the early stage of the game it seems to be the better choice" Argo explained while send start to sort the information regarding custom made swords and the blacksmith guild, that is to be send to Naxes as part of his purchase.

Naxes then joined Kirito contemplating the information that they had just received from Argo while making a mental list of Pros and Cons in their head. Asuna who looked at the silent duo proceeded to introduces herself to Argo and ask a few question of her own.

'Hmmm, that seems like a fun idea, me as a blacksmith. I guess I know what I will be doing for the next few days' Naxes thought to himself as a smirk made his way on his face.

 **Whew, finally done with Chapter 3, marking the start of my original plot. Trying to put some more description of the surrounding and taking care of my wordings. So it will be really helpful if you can point out any mistake, and hopefully I won't repeat them in the later chapters. (I still would probably will). So enjoy the chapter and tell me what do you think of the story so far. With that I end this chapter as my back are really killing me.**

 **See ya.**

'


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Blacksmithing**

*CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG*

Even though the technologies that the people have in year 2022 are so advanced, there is still one more thing that most people look forward to, time travelling. So far there is no advancement on that field or even any findings that can help the humankind progress on that particular subject. So why exactly are we talking about the subject of time travelling? That is because right now one person is wishing how he could time travel so hard that he might even sold his soul for it.

' Take up blacksmithing they said, it will be fun they said. I swear if somehow I could time travel to me in the past two day I'll slap him so hard in the face for thinking of that ' Naxes thought to himself as beads of sweats formed on his forehead and rolled down his face and then hissed as it drops unto the glowing piece of metal in front of him.

Today was the second day of Naxes training in the Blacksmith Guild. When he first reached the building, he was surprised by the sheer size of the building. It really made him wonder how he missed the building in the first place while exploring the town.

Flashback

Smokes can be seen going out of the few chimneys sprouting out from the brown roof of the building, and don't get him started on the entrance, it was a large metal door that dwarfed him and it made his wonder is there really a need to make it so big, it is not as if some giant Cyclops are going to enter and start forging in there anyway.

Naxes was standing in front of the door wondering if he even can even open it, just as he was about to push the door inwards, the door opened itself to reveal a rather large old man, what was left of his hair was already grey and a messy beard adorned his face. The old man then looked at him and smiled.

" Welcome young man to the Blacksmith guild. I take it that you are here to learn about the wonders of blacksmithing? " the excited old man greeted him. Taken aback by the energy the old man were giving off, Naxes managed to give a small nod and with that a large arm grabbed his shoulder and dragged him off into the building.

" My name is Estus, the one who is currently running the guild and also the one who will teach you everything you need to know about blacksmithing. Show me some spirit and introduce yourself now boy. " The old man asked as they moved towards a table where they can sit and get started with the whole deal.

Taking his seat on the opposite side of the old man Naxes and straightened his back before starting.

" The name is Naxes and I'll be honored if you can accept my apprenticeship here for me to become a blacksmith. " Naxes said confidently with a slight bow.

Seemingly satisfied with the introduction, the old man gave him a few nods and agreed to take him under his wing, but of course with the fee of 5000 COL. After giving the old man the amount that was needed, leaving him with only a small portion of COL left, Naxes bowed to get back to Argo for this as her information never stated any fees that need to be paid.

With that the 7 day training with the old man started, so with a bright smile on his face Naxes followed the Estus towards a large room. Naxes wondered what he will be learning first, while having a few images of him forging a great sword running through his mind. The thoughts were soon ended when the both of them reached their destination. Estus opened the door and gestured him in, as Naxes walked in he realized that he was now in some sort of a library. Then the realization hit him, as the blood was drained from his face he turned to Estus hoping that they have entered the wrong room.

" This is where you are going to take your first step in becoming the greatest blacksmith, by reading all about it " Estus declared with a small grin. The same grin that Naxes will come to hate in the next few days. Naxes then look at the pile of books that Estus had chosen for him and sit down on the chair as he picks up one of the book randomly.

' Might as well get comfortable, I have a feeling that I'll be here for a long time. '

Flashback ends

Naxes can say he might have got lucky with how thing went. At the end of the first day he was buried in piles of books, obviously being unable to finish all the required books, Estus however had graciously agreed to let him out of the library to start the next step, and that was only after Naxes agreed that he will finish the book in his free time later.

So at the present moment, Naxes is currently hammering the piece of a hot glowing metal in his third step of training. He need to strike the metal with his hammer until it produces the right sound for 50 times, only then he can move forward to next step. If some of you are wondering, the second step is something that Naxes rather not think or talk about. Having to memorize the shape and colors of the metal ores that actually doesn't have much difference in their appearance in the first place was not a great way to start his second morning in the guild.

Only when the day had slightly darkens that Naxes managed for the first time held a hammer in his hand from the start of his apprenticeship with Estus. Estus had brought him into the forge and shown him how to strike the metal correctly to produce a unique sound. Taking a close look to how it is done he then started to lift the hammer and strike down the piece of metal on the anvil.

*CLANG*

[ Strike 47/50 ]

*CLINK*

*CLINK*

*CLANG*

[ Strike 48/50 ]

*CLINK*

*CLINK*

*CLINK*

*CLANG*

[ Strike 49/50 ]

*CLINK*

*CLANG*

[ Strike 50/50 ]

[ CONGRATULATION ]

Finally after a grueling amount of time, Naxes succeeded in fulfilling the requirement to finish his third step. Flashing a wide smile to the Estus who stood the whole time behind him as he was striking the metal, Estus give him a soft smile and patted his shoulder.

" Great job so far, since it is already late why don't we end today's training here and continue with the next step tomorrow "

Looking out of the small window, Naxes realized that Estus was right. It is already dark out there and he was actually really tired.

' Huh I didn't realize I was actually taking that long to do that, time really flew by when you are focused ' Naxes thought as he wobbles out of the forge and heads toward the room that he was supplied with, forsaking his dinner and bath. With a thump he fell on his bed and slipped into his dreamless sleep.

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the open window and there was a glow in the room. As a ray of sunshine hit Naxes right in his face, his face scrunched as he tries his best to block the glow with his hand. Without any success he then woke up as he stares out of the open window.

" Do you really have to make the sun so bright today, just for that you are cementing your place on my shit list Kayaba " Naxes said as he rubbed his eyes and walked out of the room heading to the Cafeteria to get some breakfast. Sword Art Online system might not have a hunger bar in its system, but Naxes just feel better doing it even thought it have no actual effect on his status.

After grabbing a piece of rye bread and a bottle of milk, he walked towards the forge to meet with Estus to get his instruction for the day while munching on the bread. Looking around as he walks Naxes realized that the other players are starting to fill the guild space, as they might have heard about the guilds and decided to take a shot. Ignoring the mass of players, he reached his destination and went into the room after knocking a few times.

" Ah, I see that you are already up and about. So are you ready to start the fourth step of your training? It doesn't differ much from what you did yesterday, so you might be able to finish it quickly " Estus said as he walked towards the furnace and gestured Naxes to follow him.

Chugging down the remaining milk and throwing away the bottle as it breaks into tiny shining pieces, Naxes followed Estus and as he reached him there is a small popup appearing in front of him.

[ YOU HAVE LEARNED THE BLACKSMITHING SKILL ]

[ ASSIGN SKILL TO THE SKILL SLOT? ]

So it seems that finally he have already unlocked the skill, but as the proficiency is still at 0 there nothing that he can actually do at the moment. Equipping the skill at the last free slot that he have right now, he then proceeded to equip the Bronze Hammer from his inventory.

In Sword Art Online there is almost an unlimited amount of skills that can be learned, however there is only a few slots that is given to the player for them to grind the proficiency and increases its effect. At the start of the game each player is given two skill slots, and when they reached Level 6 the third slot is unlocked. Naxes unlocked his fourth slot when he passed the Level 12 requirement and left it empty since then. The fifth slot gained be gained at Level 25, and the subsequent slots will be unlocked with every ten level gained. The skills of course can be remove and added to the slots as many time as the players want, but once the skill is removed from the slot, all of the proficiency will be lost, only with the use of a specific item that can be found on the later floor a player can store the skill in the item without having to lose the proficiency. So it is better to carefully think about which skill the player is going to develop and equip it on the skill slots.

Right now Naxes' slots is currently full with these skills

[ THROWING ]

[ ARMOR PIERCE ]

[ SIDE BITE ]

[BLACKSMITHING ]

Satisfied with the skills that he have equipped, Naxes turned to Estus to receive his assignment for the day.

" Just do the same thing like you did yesterday, but this time I want you to do it 100 times continuously. " Estus said, and as the quest confirmation appeared in front of Naxes he quickly pressed YES.

' Hit it a hundred times, that should not be too hard, I think I might even finish this before the lunch hour. ' Naxes thought to himself. He did not realize how wrong he was until sometime later.

* * *

*CLINK*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

As Naxes continues to strike the piece of metal on the anvil, beads of sweats can be seen on his face. The heat from the furnace continues to harshly punish him, even worse when he actually have to be near it when he need to reheat the piece of metal. If he was actually in the real world right now, no doubt that his shirt that he is wearing will be drenched with his sweat and luckily enough that there is no effect on his bodily fatigue, in theory he can keep going for hours without even stopping, however his mental fatigue is still there. So with that being said he still need to take a break here and there, as right now the sun is already straight up in the sky signaling it is almost afternoon, Naxes struck the metal one last time to take a break and check his progress.

' Huh, and I thought I would already be done by now ' Naxes mused silently as he looked around to see where Estus are. Squinting his eyes a bit, he can see that Estus are currently guiding another player through a selection of metal ore displayed on a large table.

Having no need to actually talk to the old man at the moment, Naxes sat on the floor and produced a small bottle of water from his inventory box and took a sip of the cool water. Thanks to the game developer, for making the inventory into a time stasis field, so anything stored in the inventory would not be affected by time. So anything cold stored will stay cold and also vice versa. It might not be much, but the moment like right now make him felt really thankful for whoever thought of this.

' I should check my progress with the quest right now, given the time, I think I am at least almost halfway done or even almost finished with it '

While sipping a mouthful of the cool water, Naxes makes a few gestures to open up the Quest Log to check his progress.

[ Strike 5/100 ]

*PPFFFFTTTT*

" WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?! 5/100 ?! I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS ALL MORNING AND THIS IS THE PROGRESS?! " Naxes shouted as he look at the quest log, his shout drew a few look from the surrounding player. He then stood up and walked toward where Estus was standing.

' Damn, spittakes seems funny when it happen to other people, but it hurts like hell ' he thought as he rubs his chest, hoping it will relieve the burn in his throat.

" Oi old man! Why the progress is like this, I am pretty sure that I hit the metal correctly more than 5 times! "

Naxes complained as he was near enough for Estus to hear him, gaining the attention of both Estus and the player he was guiding. He bowed slightly to apologize to the player for interrupting them.

"As I told you earlier, you need to strike the metal for one hundred times continuously. " Estus stated monotonously, reminding Naxes that Estus was just really one of the NPCs in the game.

" Erghhh, that sure does not help. " Naxes grumbled as he ran his hand through his unruly hair, slicking them back.

" Maybe you should check the quest requirement again just to be sure? " a feminine voice suggested. It came from the player that was talking to Estus earlier. The person had a short brown hair that had a white hairpin clipped to keep the bangs out her eyes. She was wearing a pink long sleeved shirt with a brown leather armor strapped on her torso along with a white skirt.

" Might as well, it couldn't be a bug couldn't it? " Naxes agreed with her suggestion and opened up the quest log on more time to confirm the requirement to clear the quest.

[ STRIKE THE METAL PIECE CORRECTLY FOR 100 TIME CONTINUOUSLY ]

[PROGRESS : 5/100 ]

Naxes stared at the displayed window in front of him, thinking what might the problem with how he did it, he was sure that when he struck the metal earlier he managed to produce the right sound most of the times.

The other player moved beside Naxes to take a look at the quest log as well. Since there is no sensitive information being shown, Naxes moved the window slightly so that she can take a look. She read the words that were written and seem to be in a deep thought for a bit.

"AH! If you look at it again it did say continuously right? " she asked Naxes who just nodded, asking her to continue.

" So maybe, you just need to strike it correctly for 100 hits straight, without any fails. " she suggested as Naxes eyes widens in realization.

" Oh okay, so that is how I am really supposed to do it, but if that is really so then I suppose this is actually far harder than I thought. " Naxes says as he closed the quest log window.

" Thanks you for helping me out, if you didn't pointed that out, I might just be spending the rest of my day in the forge without a clue how to finish the quest. "

Looking quite embarrassed because she was being earnestly thanked, she waved her hand in front of her while rubbing her head sheepishly.

" Don't mind it too much, I will be doing the same quest later on, so it is really no problem at all. "

Having enough rest and finally having a clue on how to actually proceed with the quest Naxes again thanked the player and turned his back and ran off towards the forge.

Once again equipping the hammer in his right hand, Naxes took out the piece of metal out of the furnace and begin to strike on it.

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

' Ah I never really did got the name of the player earlier. Oh well, we are being trained here for a week, sooner or later I will run into her again ' Naxes thought.

*CLINK*

"Goddamit!"

Turning off the furnace he cleared his work space and head to his temporarily bedroom. Until the end of the day, Naxes never managed to finish the quest, he did passed the halfway point though. So with a little bit more training he will be able to finish it. Like the word of the wise man (himself) ;

" Leave tomorrow problem to the tomorrow me. "

* * *

Day 6 of Naxes' training.

" Just look at that guy go, I heard that he have been striking the same metal for the past 3 days. "

" Poor guy, he should just stop here, maybe he really isn't cut out for the skill. "

Whispers can be heard from the surrounding players who are currently looking at a player who have been working on the same quest from the day they arrived. The man had started earlier than the most of them, but the others have already reached the weapon creation quest for each categories while he continues to do the same action day in and out without giving up.

*CLANG*

Strike 97/100

*CLANG*

Strike 98/100

*CLANG*

Strike 99/100

*CLINK*

Strike 0/100

With the last clinking sound that all of the surrounding player heard, they all knew he had messed up and had to start all over again. Some started to make bets to see if the person can succeed the next time he tries, some were giving him word off encouragement and some were just disappointed and left the scene.

" What a noob, can't even get past a simple quest. " one of the player in the crowd commented, and it was loud enough for the man who was working on the anvil to hear it. Even if he did hear it, the man took no notice of it and began to strike on the metal again.

" What did you say? Why are you even here at the first place? If you got nothing good to say then shut up and just go away! " a feminine voice can be heard from somewhere among the crowd. The guy who said the comment earlier began to look around searching for the source of that voice, and when he find it, he was treated with a sight of an angry female player who was holding a hammer in her right, glaring heatedly towards him.

" Tch. " Not wanting to be at the end of the glare anymore, the guy turned around and went somewhere else.

" And you! What are you still doing on the same quest? Wasn't it you who helped me a few days back telling me how to hit the metal and produce the correct sound? " the girl said to the working man.

*CLINK*

A few disappointed groan can be heard from the crowd as the man failed one more time. Running his hand through his messy black hair, the man turned around and his average face can be seen.

" Ah, it is you again Pinkie. What are you doing here? " Naxes said as he recognized the girl wearing the pink colored shirt.

" I have been watching you for quite some time you know, you did gather quite a large crowd around you. I thought you should have been done with quest right now. " the girl said with a tick mark at her head as she definitely doesn't like the nickname that she have gained after meeting the annoying average looking man for a few times already.

Indeed, a few days earlier Naxes seems to already got the groove of how to hit the metal with the correct rhythm and even had helped the girl when she was stuck on the same quest.

" Now that would be telling, and where is the fun in that. " Naxes said with the annoying grin adorning his face. Earning a grumble from the girl, Naxes turned to the crowd.

"Oi that guy over there! Yeah you. Are you still taking bets? " Naxes said to the guy who was running the bets on him for quite some time.

Nodding, the guy soon received a trade window for 3510 COL in front of him.

" That is all the money I have with me right now, and I bet that I can finish this quest on this try right now. " Naxes said to the man as he walked towards the furnace and prepare to begin his try one more time. Chaos erupted in the crowds as bets were made, many thought he was just being cocky with the amount of attention that he had or he might just have been trying to impress the girl that he talked to earlier. So right now the bet odds are against Naxes succeeding.

" No more bets! " the guy announced and he gestured for Naxes to begin.

The girl than looked at Naxes who was taking a deep breath with his eyes closed. As soon as he opened his eyes he released his breath and struck the metal in front of him.

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

Clanging sound can be heard all across the room as the crowd waited with baited breath. They was awed by the speed of Naxes hitting the metal and the form that he gained while training for the few days. It never occurred to them that the sight of a man working in a forge can look so beautiful.

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

' Fast! How did he get so fast? ' the girl wondered as she looked at Naxes. Sure it was not as fast as Estus, but still it was very impressive for a beginner. She was then brought out of her musing when a soft glow started to fill the room as the hammer struck the piece of the glowing metal for one last time.

*CLANG*

Strike 100/100

[ CONGRATULATION ]

When the glow died down a small of insignia can be seen where the metal was once at. Naxes picks it up and equipped it at his left chest while he walk towards the guy who was responsible for the bets.

" I believe that you are have my winnings already calculated and ready? " Naxes asked as the man woke up from his stupor and send Naxes the amount of COL that he had won. Enough said that Naxes would have to worry about his spending for a few weeks. Walking up to the girl he then invited her to go to the cafeteria with him.

" Come on now Pinkie, let's get something to eat. It will be my treat. "

Still seemingly unable to form any words from her mouth, the girl nodded and followed Naxes.

* * *

After ordering a few dishes from the barmaid, Naxes then turned to look at the girl who was staring quite intently at him.

" Do you have something that you want to ask? " Naxes asked.

Standing up from her chair, she then leaned forward close enough to Naxes and proceeded to yank Naxes collar.

" Of course I have something to ask! First of all, what was up with that speed earlier? And secondly, if you can do it as easily as before, why wait until now to clear the quest? "

As she finished her question, Naxes pointed at her hand which was still grabbing his collar. Realizing what she had done, she let him go and quickly retreated back to her seat while her face had a tint of pink adorning it.

Fixing his collar for a bit, Naxes opened his mouth to answer her.

" To make this easier, I will answer your second question first. On the third day of my training after I finished my failed the quest once again, I was taking a bath when I remembered to check on my hammer mastery level and my blacksmithing proficiency. I was quite surprised to see that it has rose rather quickly compared to my dagger my dagger mastery when I first started. After making a few theories, I proceeded to try them out on the next day. It was only then that I found out that when we are doing this quest, a buff is automatically being granted to me as I strike the piece of metal. It helps to lower the Attack Interval and helped me to be able to strike the metal faster. Just as I was about to finish the quest, I got an idea of utilizing the buff to my advantage. So after every 99th strike, I always purposely fail the quest so I can continue to raise my Hammer Mastery and my Blacksmith Proficiency at a fast rate." Naxes finished his very long explanation. Damn, how many breath did he took to finish that.

Being quite flabbergasted, it took her quite a while to process all of the information.

" So with the mastery and the proficiency that you gained, that is how you manage to get so fast in this short amount of time. " she answered her own second question and received a nod of confirmation from Naxes.

" Dammit! It would have been nice if you told me earlier you know. " she said to him.

Naxes just shrugged his shoulder and took notice of the arriving food that is being set on the table.

" Well technically you never asked. So now that the topic is out of the way, let's begin the feast to celebrate my success with the quest. " he said as pick up the mug that was filled with ginger ale and lift it up for a toast.

" You still have to finish your weapon creation lecture with Estus tomorrow, and you just have one more day to learn about all of the weapon categories. " she said as she looked at the food that is on the table.

' So many to chose from, it is a great thing that I wouldn't have to worry about my figure in this world ' she thought to herself.

" Don't mind the small matter, leave that to tomorrow Naxes to worry about, tonight we feast! " Naxes stated as his toast was finally met with the mug of ale from Pinkie, and with that they scarfed down the food clearing the table within minutes.

As they were already done with day, both them heads off to rest in their respective room. Just as they were about to separate ways Naxes turned towards the girl.

" Oi Pinkie, I realized that I never properly introduced myself. The name is Naxes, so you better remember my name. " Naxes introduces himself with a smile.

" My name is Lisbeth. So now you know my name, you better stop calling me 'Pinkie'! " Lisbeth said as she hoped that Naxes will stop calling her Pinkie.

" So I guess I'll see you tomorrow Naxes. "

" See you tomorrow then. Goodnight Lisbeth. "

With a small wave of hand, they separated ways to rest for the night.

 **Phew, done with another chapter. I'm currently trying to increase the word count bit by bit. Tell me what you think of the chapter and hopefully you can enjoy it. Just how lucky (insert sarcasm) am I, once I decided to start writing Fanfiction, I got a job request from a friend that need me to do some typing. RIP my back. So with that I end this chapter.**

 **See ya.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Reasons**

"Morning Estus." Naxes greeted the old man who is currently working on some sort of project of his even though it is still early in the morning.

For Naxes himself, he is only up early today because he is too excited. Today is the last day of his training, once the day ends, he can proudly say that he is an official Blacksmith.

" Good Morning to you too Naxes, I see that you are brimming with energy today. So let's put that to good use. " he replied.

"Don't get used to this, this is a rare occurrence, even I am surprised at myself when I woke up this morning. I am not like you, you are always up early even though that you are always the last one to go to sleep. Wait do you even sleep at night or would you just go into your room and stare at the wall until the other player wakes up." Naxes asked the NPC in front of him.

" Of course I go to sleep like anybody else, I am just used to this, it's like a ritual for me to do this and soon it will be like this for you too. " he then turned back to striking the piece of metal in front of him, putting the finishing touches it.

" Sure you did. However I highly doubt that, while I did take up to being your apprentice, it is only as a mean to an end that I need to reach. To get stronger, and when I am stronger, I will be able to help the others to beat this game. " Naxes said as he put his hand behind his head while looking upwards thinking while thinking about what he have done this past week.

" Sure you think like that for now, but when you find your reason, you will change. I can assure you of that. " With the last strike, the metal in front of Estus started to give out a bright glow and changes it shape.

' What am I even doing, having a conversation with a NPC, but still their response is almost humanlike. It is hard to see them only as part of the program the developers created.'

" So what are you even creating there old man. "

Peeking above Estus shoulder, Naxes saw the weapon that was being pulled out from the cooling water. It was a bronze dagger that looked the same as the one that can be found in the equipment shop he visited before, but there was a difference in length. It was longer than the usual dagger, almost as long as the dagger that Naxes is using right now.

" Well this is what the two of you are going to be learning about today, and since you Naxes have repeatedly said that you want to be able to create a custom dagger with a longer reach, this is the result of me trying to do just that. " Estus said while holding out the dagger to him.

Naxes might or might have not pester Estus a few ( a lot ) of times about the subject of his unique dagger. What? He was just making sure that he is not wasting his time, he need to be sure that the skill can help him to create a dagger of his preference. So far the result is looking good, the past week has been great. His stats went up for a bit even if he did not level up, just by his mastery and proficiency grinding. Twirling the dagger in his hand he is satisfied knowing that in just a little bit he can start doing this too. Then he realized something.

" Wait a second, two of us? " Naxes asked Estus while thinking.

' There is no another average looking me, running around learning stuff for me is there ? Cause if there is, that will be dope. ' Naxes then turned around looking for the other person Estus was referring to. As he turned to look behind him, he was greeted with a sight of the brown haired, pink wearing female who was yawning as she stretched her back out.

" Ahh, I thought I would be the first one up today. " Lisbeth said as she made her way towards Naxes and Estus.

" Good morning Lisbeth, it's good to see that you are fresh and ready for the day so early today. " Naxes teased as he noticed that Lisbeth somehow had managed to gain some kind of a bed hair in this game.

" Can it will you. I don't want to hear that from someone who's hair always look messy. " Lisbeth shot back as she quickly tried to ease out the few hair sticking out and make herself look presentable. She didn't expect to see another player out so early in the morning.

Crying his fake anime tears Naxes then went to a corner and started to sulk.

" It's not like I want it to be so messy, and how did even the Nervegear perfectly captured its messiness. " Naxes grumbled to no one in particular.

" Why don't you to go and get your breakfast first, and after that come back here so we can start on our training for today. " Estus said to the two of them.

They don't really need breakfast, but it would be nice to have something before they start, it does seem that they will spend all day in the forge today. So with that Naxes and Lisbeth make their way to the cafeteria while still bantering about the subject of their hair.

* * *

" One Handed Weapon Creation - Dagger . Is what we are going to learn about today." Estus announced, while Naxes clapped and Lisbeth just looked at Naxes strangely.

While Lisbeth had learned about the basic from her other lecture about the other weapon, Naxes who spent almost all of his time doing the fourth quest still have not got no idea about weapon creation. Sure he got the skill already, but he had no idea where to start from there.

" So what have you learned about for the past few days? " Naxes looked at Lisbeth who he realized that while she had started later from him, she did progressed further than him.

" Since I managed to end my fourth step quite early thanks to you, on the fourth day I was thought about One handed sword and Rapier creation, on the fifth day was about Two handed sword and Spear creation, today is going to be on Dagger and Accessories creation, leaving Shield and One handed blunt weapon creation." she explained as a hard look appeared on her face. Lisbeth was not the kind of person who enjoyed lectures, so these few days have not been fun for her.

" So have just enough time for two subject it seems. I never really realized that until now, well what done is done, let's just get on with it " Naxes said as he slapped his cheek to psych himself up.

Lisbeth just sweatdropped as she look at the guy that she have come to know in the past week.

' Such a weird person, but not in the bad kind of weird. ' she thought to herself.

The thought was soon cut off short as Estus started his lecture.

" First of all, you need to know that to create any type of weapon you will be needing two type of ore. The first type that you need is to create the weapon itself and for Dagger you will need to use 5 Sharp Edge Stone. The second type of ore that you need is for the weapon stat. Basically for every weapon you create there is a stat that is attached to it, the most basic of them all is the HIT type and the DODGE type. For HIT type you will need to use 1 Stream Stone while for the DODGE type you need 1 Windy Flower Stone. Of course with that being said, this is for the basic of the weapon creation. Later on in the game, once you have higher proficiency for the skill you can start to mess around with the ratio and the type of ore you use to create the weapon." Estus explained while Naxes tried his best not to fall asleep at this point and Lisbeth doesn't seem to be faring any better than him.

The explanation then went on to more in depth in the weapon creation into the subjects like the shape of the weapon and how it will affect its performance. They even reached the subject on how to maintain and enhancing of weapon. Estus doesn't even look winded as he gives his long ass explanation (as Naxes described it ), must be one of those perk of being an NPC. Naxes continued to wonder what else is different about the NPCs in the game.

" … and that is why you should never went to sleep with a dagger when you had spaghetti for dinner. " Estus ended his explanation. With that Naxes was woken up from his musing never realizing how Estus explanation went off the tangent for a while, it went very far off actually. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Looking to his side, he saw Lisbeth whose position looked like she was indeed focused into the lecture, but Naxes knew better. She was snoring lightly while her head was bobbing every once in a while.

Producing a marker from his equipment, he twisted the cap off and inched closer to Lisbeth face while thinking about what design will look good on her face. Why did he even have a marker at the first place with him or why even the game would include a marker in it was a mystery, some things are better left unknown. Getting an idea from a person he just met recently he then moved his creative hand and got to work.

* * *

Lisbeth was woken up from her sleep when she felt a nudge at her shoulder. It seems that she had fallen asleep somewhere along the lecture. Most of the stuff that was being explained was actually not far from what she had heard for the past two days, so she was already bored of the repetitiveness, and to think that she will have to go through this lecture again tomorrow. Now she was entirely sure that Naxes got off lucky with his crazy grinding back then.

Lisbeth smiled at Naxes while bowing slightly, thanking him for waking her up. Well he might be a little bit weird, but he was nice enough to wake her up. She wouldn't want to know what will happen if Estus caught her sleeping in his lecture.

" You're smiling, what's up with that. Was the lecture really that interesting for you? " Lisbeth asked Naxes who was grinning like a crazy person, and why is he holding his stomach like that.

' Is there even any status that would even grant stomach pain in the game? ' she asked herself.

She then turned to Estus who at the moment was cleaning up the board that he used during the lecture earlier.

" So now that we are done with the lecture, are we going to move up with the practical? I can start to prepare the furnace if you want me to. " she asked Estus who currently have his back towards her.

" That would be great, and it would be nice if you could show Naxes how…. to used the….. " Estus word was cut short when she turned to look at Lisbeth. Blinking once and then twice, he then looked at Naxes who had one had over his mouth and the other on his stomach, looking like he was about to burst out laughing at any moment.

Lisbeth was still looking at Estus waiting for him to finish his words. Estus then palmed his face while releasing out a soft sigh as he realized what had happened.

" Miss Lisbeth, it would be wise of you to ask Mister Naxes over there if he have any mirror with him and ask if you can use it. " Estus said as he turned back to finish up what he was doing. NPC he might be, but even with that he would not want to be caught in with what is going to happen any moment from now.

Naxes produces a small mirror, and as he handed it over to Lisbeth he took a few step back while still stifling his laughter.

Lisbeth took the mirror and take a look into it, she then notices the three whiskers mark adorning her each of her cheeks. She didn't have to be a genius to know who was the culprit.

While Naxes who couldn't hold it any longer burst out laughing while rolling on the floor.

" Ahahahahaha! The look on your face, plus the whisker mark is really something. " Naxes said as he wish that he could have a camera to capture the moment.

*CRASH*

"Eh?" Naxes laughter was interrupted with a sound of something breaking. There was fragments of light coming out off Lisbeth hand where the mirror used to be, and its place a bronze hammer was equipped.

It was at that moment Naxes knew he f**ked up.

* * *

" I didn't even know that while you can't take any damage when you are being struck by a hammer it can actually hurt really bad " Naxes said while rubbing the spot where Lisbeth had struck him, repeatedly once she realized that he wasn't taking any damage.

Lisbeth was currently preparing to start the furnace, while trying her best to ignore Naxes. Once Naxes had a realization on what she had planned to do, he ran all over the guild and of course Lisbeth had hunted him down. Somehow at that moment she had forgotten about the other player in the guild. Only after she went into the bathroom to clean it that she realized that the other player had seen her face with whiskers drawn on it.

" Aww, come on. You can't still be mad at me can't you? Come on, just look at my innocent face. How can you even be mad at someone like me. " Naxes pleaded trying to coax Lisbeth into talking to him again, while at the same time taking note on how to start the furnace. Lisbeth was suppose to teach her, but he can't exactly ask that now can't he, and Estus said that he need just deal with the consequences of his action.

" Besides, you did look kind of cute with the whiskers on your face. " Naxes commented nonchalantly as he turned to asked Estus to teach him. He didn't notice how Lisbeth freezes a bit at his comment while a blush was tinting her cheeks.

" You-you just prepare the stuff to be put inside it like how I just did and then press the start button at the side, the system will take care of the rest for you." Naxes heard Lisbeth said as she still had her back towards him. Rushing to her side Naxes then proceeded to thank her.

" Thank you so much Lady Lisbeth, this one really appreciate the help that Lady Lisbeth had graciously given to this poor soul. With that, this one promise to treat you to some food later. " Naxes said to Lisbeth who had perked up after hearing the word food.

" Anything and no limit on how much. " she said and Naxes quickly nodded signaling his agreement, having no idea how much his COL will suffer by the end of the day.

* * *

" One Handed Weapon Creation - Dagger " Naxes shouted as he is on his sixth try in forging the dagger. His first try resulted in something that cannot even be describe as a weapon, while his third had the look, but still failed to be recognized as a weapon by the system. He had thought that once he had the skill and some amount of knowledge on weapon making it will all be an easy ride from there. Oh how wrong he was. It turns out it need more focus and more something that Estus had called Image.

Imaging plays an important part in blacksmithing. All this while Naxes had thought that the appearance and the stats of the weapon that will come out at the end will solely be decided by the game system, actually the Image that the player had in their mind will also affect the end result. If that is all that it needed it should still be fine, but of course not. If the image of the weapon is too strong, then the process will completely fail, too weak then the weapon will come out either with a shitty stat or just like what happened to him earlier.

*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

With one last strike, the piece of red hot metal started to glow and the shape started to change.

[SUCCESS]

Naxes almost jumped in joy as he saw the screen in front of him. He then picked up the newly formed steel dagger and performed a basic Appraisal. It only worked with the weapon that he personally made though. It would be weird if the maker can't even appraise his own creation, just because he doesn't have the skill.

Opening a small window, he then took a glance at the stats and sighed. Estus came over to take a look at the created weapon. After a few second looking at the dagger, he put it back in front of Naxes and commented.

" It is good that you finally succeeded in making the weapon. However with stats like that, compared to it a nail would do more damage. Take a small break before continuing, you look like you could use one "

After patting Naxes shoulder he then made his way to Lisbeth who looked like she had also managed to successfully create something. Naxes knew that Estus was just telling him the facts, he meant nothing bad, but still….

Sighing once more, he stored the first weapon he had created in his inventory and decided to heed Estus advice. Naxes sat down on the floor, propped his back at the wall behind him and closed his eyes. This is not how he had imagined it. He had grinded his mastery and proficiency from before he thought, this is the part where the stuff should get easier, not harder.

' I hope this is not just because I simply does not have the talent for the skill. '

Naxes gritted his teeth as the thought ran across his mind. If there is something in the real world that Naxes really hate is the word talent and prodigy. A talent will decide how people perform in some activities. A prodigy had the world handed to them on a silver platter since they are born. He hated that, he know the world is unfair, some people will always be better than the others. He understood that.

" Hard work will always pay off they said. " he muttered softly under his breath.

That is one of the reason that Naxes had started playing games, the hard work pays off. If he grinded, he will get stronger, if he got stronger he can beat the enemies, if he beat his enemies he can reach his goal. That is how it is suppose to be, however this one game decided to betray that thought. What he is doing right now is the proof of that.

Naxes clenched his fist so hard if this was the real he would have already drawn blood as the thought ran in his mind. The dark thought soon was interrupted by a voice beside him.

" You okay there? Your face doesn't look so good. "

Naxes opened his eyes and turned to his sight of Lisbeth who had taken the seat beside him. Well not exactly seat per se, she just plopped down beside him. She had a concerned look on her face, he must have look really bad then for her to notice.

" It is nothing much, I was just taking a few moment to collect my thought. " Naxes replied as he notice that Lisbeth was holding out a bottle of water toward him. Taking it while giving her an appreciative nod, he chugged it down in a few gulps. It did helped to clear his mind a bit.

Looking up, he saw the other player that was in various stages of the training. Some were just as serious while some looked like that they just wanted to find something to fill their time with. Naxes then opened up his mouth to ask a question while his eyes was still looking at the sight in front of him.

" If you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to take up Blacksmithing? Don't take this the wrong way, this skill doesn't look like it really appealing to most of the female player. " Naxes asked, hoping that Lisbeth wouldn't take it offensively. He was never good in phrasing his words in a non offending way.

Turning her head toward him, Lisbeth then took a few second to think about it. When she was done forming the words in her head, she noticed that she was unconsciously fiddling around with her hammer. She just hoped that it will not become a habit in the future.

" You know, when I first found out that I am going to be trapped in this death game I almost broke down immediately. It was just suppose to be some game that I can play to interact with my friends and maybe make some new one, but instead it turned out to be a game that is related to my survival. I was devastated and didn't take a step out from the Town of Beginnings for a few days. I don't know if you were there, but at the start the town was a mess. Some player decided to just take it as a game and we all know how that turned up to be, and some was just as bad as I was. So gathered enough courage and started to level up safely, never taking any risk. " Lisbeth said, looking at Naxes who had said a word she take it as a sign for her to continue.

" Then I had heard of the word that got out, it seem some player are going to attempt the to fight the floor boss. I thought for days, and at the end I decided to play it safe and stayed behind. When I heard that some player died in the battle, some part of me was glad, because that could have easily been me and the other part of me felt guilty that someone had sacrificed themselves in order to help to clear the game, to save all the player, to save me. I couldn't stand the thought anymore. It was when I got to the second floor that I got some info on some helpful extra skills that can be used for others. To this second, I still don't have the guts to be in the front line. So hopefully I can master this skill enough to be of help to the other players, to make the weapon that can be use in their fight. So that is the reason that I am here right now. I want to help clear this game, while it might not be much. It is still better than nothing I guess. " Lisbeth finished. She didn't really meant to say all of that actually, but when she had started it just came pouring out. Surprisingly, it felt nice to say it all out loud.

Lisbeth then took a look at Naxes who was still looking forward, but a small smirk can be seen tugging at his lips.

" Well now that you have said that. I felt like I am selfish jerk, with my reason. I took up the training just because I want to be able to make myself a custom weapon, a dagger to be exact. So if I compare my reason to yours it will just seem petty. So I am actually quite embarrassed at the moment. " Naxes replied as the mirth returned to his eyes. As he turned to Lisbeth, he can see that she was somewhat surprised with his answer.

" Wait a second. You are not going to berate me? Call me a coward who hides behind other? Mad at me for sitting back safely while other risk their life to clear the game? " Lisbeth asked him.

Now it was Naxes turn to be surprised, with a reason as noble as hers, how can he even be mad. In fact at the moment he could even be singing praises to her and think that it will be the right thing to do. He thinks.

" What you want to do is your choice, if someone tell you otherwise just ignore them. If this is how you think you can help to clear the game, then please by all means continue. We can't all fight in the front, someone have to support us from the back as well. I think you have made a wonderful decision, so let me be the first to thank you for taking this step. Thank you for doing this. "

Lisbeth just look at Naxes who was smiling warmly at her. His smile might be infectious though, as she found herself smiling as well a moment later. Then she remembered some detail that Naxes had told her before.

" Before this you had mentioned that you took part in the floor boss subjugation. So are you going to continue to be one of the players who fight in the front lines? " she asked as curiosity got better of her.

Naxes smile seem to be strained for a bit and then he opened his mouth to explain. He then went to explain that how he was a Beater as the other had dubbed him and Kirito before and it seems that it is only fair to the other player if they actually went on the front line later. Naxes had never officially discussed it with Kirito before, but somehow he knew that he will agree with him. As he ended the explanation, Lisbeth was silent. He wouldn't be surprised if Lisbeth decided to agree with the other player and got disgusted as he had, as accused to be the one responsible for the death of the players in the first month.

" That is really stupid thought, while I haven't really heard about this Beater term that you have told me, it seems really unfair for you and Kirito. What happen to the others was of their own responsibilities, don't get me the wrong way, but as soon as they walked out of the town to the field, they should have known the risk. It wasn't really anyone's fault and of course it is not your fault. You are still risking it if you were to be one of the front liners later. If anything, they should have thank you and worked with you instead of putting some label and shunning you guys away. " Lisbeth said as she ended it with a huff. Now instead of a smirk a wide grin is etched on Naxes face. At least one more person seems to understand the situation.

" I understand that there was no real obligation for me to fight and risk myself, but it is just that as you can see, I am just an average person. I never stood out in anything I did, I just seem to be talentless. But when it comes to games, it is something where I can put my effort in and see the result comes out directly proportionally. It was the one thing that I can proudly say I am quite good at. So with what I have, I am going to do my best to help us beat the game. " Naxes explained his reason for fighting just as he did earlier with Estus, albeit it was the shorter version of it.

Lisbeth looked at Naxes with admiration in her eyes, at that moment he look so strong, he looked like he could handle everything, even the world and then asked for some more.

" That is really nice of you, I still wish that I have the guts to be like you. " Lisbeth said, while still looking at Naxes.

Naxes who had heard that, started to stand up on his two feet and dusted his pants a bit along the way.

" Well if you are so worried about it. How about I fight with enough effort to cover for you as well. I can promise you that. " Naxes said as held out one hand for Lisbeth to take.

Looking at the hand that being held out, it took Lisbeth a few moments before her smile widened and she clasped that hand firmly and use it to stand up as well. Now they both are standing up, Lisbeth eyes met with Naxes'.

" I would like that very much, and while we are at it. I'll put enough effort for you as well. " she said.

" It's a promise then. " Naxes confirmed while still holding out Lisbeth hand.

The two continued looking at each other while their hands are still clasped together. That was until a gruff voice decided to interrupt.

"Ahem. As much as I hate to disrupt this moment right here, I think it would be wise if we continue with the training. " Estus said two the two player who were slightly blushing as they realized what they have been doing and with that they quickly separates from each other and head to their respective stations.

Once more Naxes equipped his Bronze Hammer in his hand, this time it felt much lighter as if some weight was removed from it as well as from his shoulder. That break really did wonders to him. Without giving it more thought he set the piece of metal on the anvil and began to strike it down. Naxes thought right, it does feel easier to do it right now. With a smile on his face Naxes continue his work at a slightly better pace than before. This is all because of one thing, a promise to be exact.

With that Naxes Ichiro had found his second reason for fighting.

 **Goddamn, it took a little bit longer than I thought it would take, and it is a little bit longer as in the word counts as well this time. I was stuck at the opening of the chapter for a bit, and there was suppose to be a small scene to end the chapter, but I decided to end it here and just bring what was left over to the next chapter. It is 6 am at the moment, and I don't really feel like skimming for mistakes at the moment, so just bear with any mistake for the time being. It will still be great if you could point them out. Shout out to my one Guest reviewer, not that I have much review anyway. Thank you for taking some time to read through my story and even reviewed it, I really appreciate it. To other unrelated note, I am currently hooked with the songs from the movie La La Land, great songs and what a movie that was. With that I end this chapter. I hope you can enjoy it.**

 **See ya.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Progress**

December 2022

The sun was slowly sinking below the horizon. The sky is a fiery red with the last rays of the setting sun, and darkness was falling fast. As the stars appeared in the sky, the street lights in the town flickered to life.

A black haired player wearing a white blazer made his way through the crowd in the plaza. On the left side of his blazer, a small insignia was neatly placed. Two golden hammer crossed in front of a black heater shaped shield, it had a contrast to the white blazer, making it easily noticeable.

Naxes spotted an empty seat beyond the crowd of players, so he quickly made his way and plopped down. It has already been exactly one week since he parted ways with Kirito and Asuna, with both of them going to fulfill their own objective. So today, as the training should already ended for all of them, they had agreed to make the plaza as their meeting spot.

Since it seemed like he was the only one that is here at the moment, the others still might be their way. Naxes eyed the insignia that was pinned down just above where his heart should be. When he completed his training with Estus, he had expected to be some kind of gift waiting at the end, maybe some kind of weapon being given as a proof of completion, but all he got was this and it wasn't even given to him at the end, he already received it as he completed his fourth step. But at the end Estus had revealed that by equipping that insignia, not only that he will be officially recognize as a blacksmith, it also granted him a 5 percent increase of success rate with any skill related to blacksmithing.

At the end of his training he had at least been able to create satisfactory weapon, and it took some more time for him to learn how to make one that have the length that he wanted. So since he didn't have enough time, he didn't actually complete his Accessories Creation class. Luckily Estus had been kind enough to at least teach him the basic of it, so he got the Crafting sub-skill. With a little more practice and learning own his own he should be able upgrade it to gain the Accessories Creation skill.

It might not be needed, but before leaving the guild Naxes had also invited Estus to treat him along with Lisbeth who he did promise to treat. Estus was only a NPC, but after spending one whole week being under his tutelage, Naxes felt it was the least he could do for the old man to show him his appreciation. While Lisbeth just seem happy to drain him of his COL, as they could never feel hungry they could also not feel full. With that information Lisbeth proceeded to order every item in the menu and the three of them had a feast to celebrate Naxes' end of training.

Naxes smiled as he opened up his menu screen and took a look at his friend list, he remembered what had happened just he was about to leave the guild.

Flashback

Opening his menu screen, Naxes scrolled his equipment list, it was swamped with all his creation from earlier. He never really got a good look at all of them, after a few successful tries he just keeps on going. Creating one dagger after another, he was not satisfied after succeeding in creating the weapon once, he need to practice it until at least he can't fail anymore. Only after Lisbeth had pointed out the small mountain of dagger beside him he agreed to stop.

Finally finding the equipment he was looking for, he took out the white blazer and equipped it. He didn't put it on for the past week, he knew working in the hot environment like in the forge will reduce its durability. Just as he was about to exit the guild, a voice called out to him.

" Wait a minute Naxes! "

Looking back toward the source of the voice, Naxes saw Lisbeth who looked like she had rushed to get there. They had said their goodbye before when they had their feast and Naxes had also invited Lisbeth to join him when she completed her training tomorrow, but she had declined saying that even after she finish her training she will be spending most of her time in the guild to learn more about the skill.

" Yes Lisbeth, did you change your mind about my offer earlier? " he asked her.

" It's not about that, and I don't think I'll change my mind anytime soon regarding that. It's just that I have request to ask of you.. "

It was a shame really, Naxes really enjoyed her company and he was sure that Kirito and Asuna wouldn't mind the extra company as well.

" Ask away then. " Naxes prompted Lisbeth who was silent as she was looking at the ground beneath her.

" Do you want to …. " she said with a whisper so slow that Naxes didn't really catch the last part.

" What was that? " Naxes inched closer to Lisbeth so that he can hear it clearly.

*mumbles**mumbles*

Great, as closer Naxes got to Lisbeth the slower her voice gets. Naxes started to wonder if there was any problem with his ear at the moment. Just as he was about to ask again, Lisbeth grabbed his right ear and pulled it closer to her mouth.

" I ASKED, DO YOU MIND IF I ADD YOU TO MY FRIEND LIST! " she shouted in his ear.

It was disorienting at first for Naxes, but as he blinked his eyes a few time to regain his bearing he then burst out laughing.

" Bhahahahahaha, that is your request? Why was it so hard for you to ask that? " Naxes asked Lisbeth while trying his best not to laugh even more as he looked at Lisbeth face who was getting redder by the second. Naxes then made a few hand gestures with his left hand as his right was clutching his stomach.

*PING*

With that sound, a small window appeared in front of Lisbeth.

[PLAYER NAXES HAS SENT YOU A FRIEND REQUEST. ACCEPT ?]

Lisbeth quickly pressed the [YES] button as she tried her best to contain the spreading blush on her face.

" You know, it is not easy to formally ask someone to be their friend, in the real world you don't really have to do this kind of action, so it is really embarrassing for me to do this. " Lisbeth said as she looked at Naxes who was still laughing at her predicament. Kicking him at his shins sure did get him to stop.

" Ahhh, sorry for that. I totally understand the situation, but it was still funny to watch. " Naxes said as he rubbed his shins

" Jerk! Now I have got what I came here for. I guess you can go along your way then. " Lisbeth then turned away and re-entered the guild.

" Che, going away right after getting what she want from me, what a woman. " Naxes muttered under his breath.

*THUD*

A small object hit his head just when he turned his sight away from her retreating form.

" I heard that! "

' What kind of hearing ability does she have to hear that from this distance. ' Naxes thought to himself. It was then he noticed the item that was thrown to him. Bending down to pick the item up, Naxes smiled as he recognized it and stored it in his inventory.

" Now then, where did I promised to met up with Kirito and Asuna. "

Flashback end

" Earth to Naxes " a voice called out.

Naxes looked upwards as his daydream was broken and standing right in front of him was Kirito with Asuna standing behind him.

" Too close! " Naxes grabbed Kirito face and pushed it away from his.

" I don't swing that way you know, and there is this thing that they call personal space for your information. " Naxes said as he stood up from his seat as he raised his hand to greet Asuna.

Clenching his fist Kirito had to restrain himself from bonking Naxes head.

" You were the one who was not responsive when we called you, it looked like as if you were 'away from keyboard', and I don't even know if that applies in this game as well. " Kirito said as he settled with slapping Naxes at the back of his head.

Naxes apologized as he explained that he was just thinking about something and didn't notice their arrival. When that was cleared up, they agreed to the hunting field outside of the town. So with that they exited the bustling plaza.

* * *

Urbus Hunting Field

As they exited the town gate, a wide green field can be seen. The field is sloped downwards from where they stood, and different type of monsters can be seen across the field. While Kirito had obviously gone through there to get to the mountain where he trained, this is Naxes first time going out of the town and into the hunting field.

" Ah it has been too long since I last hunted. Here I come you sweet sweet experience points. " Naxes declared and rushed to the nearest monster while grinning madly, a blue colored bee-like creature.

Kirito sighed while Asuna just smiled as they looked at Naxes' antics. Looking at each other, they both nodded and equipped their respective weapon before rushing to join Naxes as well.

" So Asuna, just what did you do for the past week ? Did you find any good hunting field? " Naxes said as he ducked under the flurry of needles that was released by the monster.

" Not really, while you and Kirito went for your training, I got some information from Argo as well and trained at a guild as well. Whereas both of your training took 7 days mine just was 6, so I spent the whole day hunting today. " Asuna replied while stabbing her rapier into small Treant in front of her, successfully stunning it for a moment before she prepared her sword skill.

" She was too caught up with the monster that she didn't even notice it was already time for us to met up, if I didn't went pass her and called out to her, she might be still hunting until now " Kirito sword glowed green as he unleashed his sword skill at another bee monster.

The three of them can afford to talk while fighting as even though the monster is not that weak, but the pattern that can be seen, allowed them to take it easy. The sun had already set, but with the light from the moon the whole field still can be seen.

Naxes swung down his dagger at the monster one more time and it broke into light fragments. He waited for the other two before moving to the next area. He took that moment to observe the fighting style of the two, while Asuna attack is weak she made up with her speed and accuracy as most of the strikes is too fast for the monster and it keeps stunning them as they tried to execute their own attack skill. For Kirito, he kept his distance from the monster carefully and made full use of his sword reach to attack the monster, in addition his footwork seemed to have improved from before. It must have been from the training he got.

" You said that you went to a guild as well, so what kind of guild was it? " Naxes said to Asuna who had defeated the monster and was making her way toward him.

" It was a cooking guild. "

Kirito tripped as he heard the statement from Asuna, and luckily as he tripped forward he accidentally stabbed his sword at the monster, resulting in its defeat. As he made his way to Naxes side, the two shared a look.

" A cooking guild that teaches you how to create poisons maybe, create any food to trap and debuff the monster maybe? " Naxes suggested as he tried to make sense of Asuna statement.

" That certainly will be useful, or maybe the food can have positive effect such as healing and granting buff? " Kirito nodded as he had the same thought as Naxes.

" Nope. It was just a normal cooking guild, where I had learned recipes of the food that can be found in the game. It can't grant any effect as well, you know that only potions and crystals can do that right. " Asuna said nonchalantly.

Once more looking at each other, both of Kirito and Naxes then looked away from Asuna careful not to meet her eyes.

" Ah, yeah, surely that will be good for you. "

" What a useful skill. Wah I am somewhat jealous of you. "

Kirito and Naxes said that in the most monotonous voice there is. As soon as they said their piece, the air suddenly felt so cold and goosebumps appeared behind their neck.

" Is there any problem with the choice of my skill? " Asuna said as she smiled at the two of them, while her mouth is smiling her eyes is surely not.

"" There is no problem at all miss, we wish you good luck in developing that skill! "" the two of them quickly replied while saluting.

Still smiling at them Asuna said, " Good then, I know my friend will always be supportive no matter what I choose right. "

" Of course miss, in fact Kirito here had happily volunteered to be the first to be your guinea- I mean food tester for your cooking " Naxes pushed Kirito forward in hope to lessens the chilling glare from Asuna while checking his status window for any abnormal debuff responsible for the chills.

" TRAITOR! " Kirito bellowed at Naxes who was hiding behind him, while he equipped his sword with a sick spin. Naxes took a step backwards while putting up his two hands in the air, some sacrifices are necessary and Kirito is just a person who is at the wrong place at the wrong time. Clapping his hand twice he then shut his eyes as if in some sort of prayer.

" OI! I'm still alive you bastard " Kirito said as his mind is running as fast as possible looking for a way out of this predicament. Give him a boss fight and he will fine, but this….. He didn't come all this way just to be killed from testing food goddamit, he would like to live through all this. Kirito started to sweat profusely while biting his lower lip.

" What are you even arguing about, no worries. When the time comes for me to test my skill, I'll be glad to make enough for both of you. " Asuna was chuckled as she look at the interaction of the two in front of her. Such good friends they are.

" Urk " Naxes knew that all of the escape route has now officially blocked, with that he dropped his head in defeat. He then took a look at Kirito, knowing that he probably had the same expression as him, but Kirito was grinning like a madman at the moment.

' Che, so as long as I fall as well he would be satisfied, what a friend. '

Content with the agreement that was reached, Asuna turned to head towards the next area with the two black haired players following behind her. That was the night that the two players hunted without care in the world as flurries of slices and slashes were dealt toward the unsuspecting mob of monsters.

" If we are going down sooner or later, might as well go down fighting. " Was the mantra that was repeated by both of them as the night went on. It was only on the next day that they finally snapped out of their funk.

* * *

" MOVE BACK! IT IS GOING TO USE ONE OF ITS AoE SKILLS! "

As the order was given, hoards of player began to clear away from the boss, each of the players taking their own defensive position; some by raising their shields, and some just by lowering their centre of gravity.

True to the warning, the boss lifted its right arm high in the sky and smashed it down on the emptied spot in front of him. Just like the sword skill of a player, once the skill is activated there is no stopping it. Now as the trunk sized arm of the boss still rooted to the ground, the players that was surrounding it rushed it once more slowly chipping away at the boss health.

Kirito continued to manage the movement of the player that was already divided into groups much like in the first floor boss battle. While he was not the official raid leader, he was experienced enough with the movement of the monster and because of that players began to look forward to his instructions in battle.

This does not mean that all of them had accepted Kirito status as a beater, some of them are still seething with hatred and are not afraid to be vocal about it in some of the meetings. That still annoyed both Naxes and Kirito to no end even more when Kibaou was speaking. Despite all the negativity towards them, at least the others were smart enough to listen to them in battles where their life is on the line.

*THUD*

A flying knife found its target at the boss shoulder slowing the arm movement. This process has already been repeated a few times, if the attack connected at the right place not only the movement is slowed moreover the arm will be jammed. It was that moment the players were looking for, one after another activated their sword skills, multiple colors glowed from their weapon before it was unleashed on the boss, earning a loud roar as the jammed knife finally broke.

Naxes sigh as he noticed that, one more dagger is now broken. Not that it really mattered he had prepared dozens of them before the raid but the amount is still limited. The daggers that he had thrown does not have a high damage stat, but just for this particular boss he had ensure beforehand that it will have a high durability to serve its purpose. Once more materializing two daggers in both of his hand, Naxes took a deep breath before activating a skill to increase his accuracy before throwing them at both of the boss shoulder. He grimaced as he looked at the result, only one of it had reached the intended target. While the other one did not completely miss the large Golem, it just scratched the metallic surface of the Golem body before bouncing off. Taking the chance as the right side of the Golem that is currently wide open, Naxes equipped a large hammer it his right hand before pounding it on the Golem.

They had prepared for the boss battle beforehand, but one particular information had slipped their mind. Most of the players in Sword Art Online prefers the usage of swords the most, which is obviously because of how the name of the particular weapon is in the game title. The problem is however when they are matched up with an enemy like the Golem right now. Slashing and piercing type of weapon deal the least damage to this kind of enemy where blunt type will be the most effective.

Luckily for Naxes he had brought one with him, it was one of the hammers that he used in his blacksmithing process. Unluckily for him, he have not dabble deeply enough in the said weapon skills as he was saving most of his skill points for dagger skill as it was his prominent choice of weapon in battle. At the moment the damage that he was dealing with basic attacks alone are far greater than the damage from his use of dagger with skills activated.

Thanks to him and some other player that was using hammer as well, either that they were a blacksmith like him as well or a full pledged hammer user, the health of the boss is chipping away faster compared to the start of the assault.

"Naxes switch!" Asuna shouted from behind him just as Naxes managed to stun the Golem with one of his critical attack. Leaving it to the rapier wielding player, he retreated to the back to prepare his dagger throw once more.

Asuna weaved through the punched that was delivered by the large Golem carefully, while keeping an eye open for any weak point for her to attack at. Like a needle poking at a metal block, it wouldn't do her any good to blindly attacking, it would only cause her weapon durability to drop. Last time Asuna's weapon durability dropped to a dangerous level she was force to listen to Naxes as he ranted about the importance of maintaining the weapon for almost an hour. It was the kind of conversation that she was not looking forward to have again in the near future.

If Kirito was a battle commander overseeing the battle from a safe distance while taking his shots whenever it the chance presents itself, Asuna prefers a much closer range while she also watched over the player and gave some advices here and there. The two of them had developed some kind a mentor and pupil relationship after they left the second floor. Since Naxes is mostly busy with his Blacksmithing training, most of the time Asuna would go with Kirito to hunt and train. The original plan was for Asuna to split up from Kirito and Naxes after they reached the third floor, however after seeing how fast she was learning things both of them agreed that she would not be a burden and decided to bring her along in their journey most of the time. Since Asuna had once said while they don't mind her being a team with them, she still don't want to be over dependent to others and wanted to develop her own solo fighting style.

Finding an opening at the Golem's left leg joint Asuna launched her flurry of thrust repeatedly at one specific point, and as a result the Golem fell to one knee, its lower body movement sealed. They haven't had many opportunities to completely stun the Golem for a long time, seeing how the boss health is almost reaching red this will be the deciding moment. Kirito moved in quickly as he saw what Asuna had done while shouting out an order.

" Now Naxes! Make sure you get both of them! "

From a safe distance Naxes held out two daggers in his hand, while activating as many skills that will increase his accuracy as possible before throwing them as hard as he can. Without even waiting for them to reach the target, he broke into a run while once more equipping his hammer.

*THUD**THUD*

[STUNNED]

A grin appeared on Naxes face as he rushed the boss along with all of the other players as this might be the boss last moment, and all of them want a chance to be the one delivering the last attack. Skill upon skill delivered to the Golem's large body. Soon the boss health reached the red zone but as it is still in its stunned state it was not able to enter its rage mode just yet and the players are not stopping. Dwindling it down the boss health bar finally emptied itself and the Golem broke into thousands shining fragments as usual, signaling the victory of the player.

[CONGRATULATIONS]

Kirito, Asuna and Naxes released out a sigh of relief while looking at the result window in front of them. While it seems that all three of them did not receive the last attacking bonus, they are happy nonetheless that once more there was no casualty in the boss floor fight. Looking at each other, the three of them nodded before silently making their way out of the boss room to activate the transfer gate. Leaving the ecstatic group of players behind. With the 12th floor boss defeated, now the 13th floor is open for access.

After the defeat of the second floor boss, the rate of floor clearing speed had tremendously increased. Usually it will take only two or three day for them to map out the dungeon and searched for the boss room and after a short meeting they will raid the room. Some might say that they are reckless, but after seeing how the second floor boss was easily subdued, the players had become more confident combined with the desire to quickly clear the game the recklessness is understandable.

" With how things are moving on, we should be able to quickly move on to clear the game. " Naxes declared as Kirito and Asuna smiled, agreeing with the statement. What they do not know, the Fate has personally made it their mission to fuck them over, but that is the story for another time.

At the moment, Naxes had a smile on his face as he touched the surface of the stone slab in front of him. A bright blue light enveloped them transferring them to the next floor.

 **Yeay, I'm glad that this chapter is finally done. I just need a chapter for a little of the character development before jumping forward with the large time skip compared to the small one that was in this chapter. So with that out of the way, I can finally move on with what I have planned. As you would have probably noticed, I am terrible with battle scene and it is something that is at the top of my list to rectify as soon as possible, because with what I have planned there should be a lot of battles after this that is heavily related with the plot. So I am really hoping for any suggestion on how to improve on/ learn about how to write a battle scene. And yes I know I still need to improve my grammar and my choice of words so the story would have a smoother flow and the words would not look so obviously repetitive. I need a suggestion on that as well. Of course as always it would be great if you could point out my mistakes. For now I hope you enjoyed the story.**

 **See ya.**


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